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March 27, 2007
Letter to the Committee
I just got an e-mail from our shared reading committee concerning the freshman book for 2008. With next year's CCCC's on my brain, and the site where it will be taking place, I couldn't help but wonder to myself when the last time was that I even heard anyone discussing Katrina. Usually, I don't pay these types of e-mails any attention mostly because I don't think my vote will make a difference. But this time I felt I had to try, so this is what I wrote:
Hi Judith.
My name is Denise Valdes-Doty. and I am a second year Ph.D student in the Writing Program. I would like to nominate the book Why New Orleans Matters, by Tom Piazza. My suggestion is based on a few things: Firstly, I feel that in the midst of our current political activities in Iraq and beyond, we have lost sight of the fact that we have a very real tragedy happening right here at home. While no longer valuable press for tabloids and the like, the residents of New Orleans are still attempting to reconstruct their lives in ways that subtly defy our authentic understanding of them. There are many changes happening at that site that include more than simple recovery. For example, the influx of Latinos (both legal and illegal) has grown exponentially since before Katrina hit. Additionally, health care has become a concern as well. These themes can be carried throughout the semester not only in our writing studios, but also across the curriculum in disciplines like geography, sociology and certainly psychology. The changes in population, health care, and emotional stress are issues that we, in academia, need to keep on the front burner. While I have not yet read this book, it is certainly on my list for summer reading. Hopefully, it will provide us with a point of entry with which to take these and any other issues concerning our fellow citizens up with rigor, ambition, and empathy.
Thanks for considering this book.
Posted by dvaldesd at March 27, 2007 04:23 PM