Book of the Quarter

Author Mark Shaw discusses the mysterious death of Dorothy Kilgallen. Was What’s My Line TV star and investigative reporter Kilgallen murdered in 1965 for writing a tell-all book about the JFK assassination? If so, is the main suspect in her death still at large? A response to the book will be provided by Barbara Kelley of the SCU Communication Department.

Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law, presents a lecture about free speech controversies based on concepts in his book.

Viet Thanh Nguyen reads from his debut novel The Sympathizer, winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

James F. Keenan, S.J., world-renowned Jesuit moral theologian and director, The Jesuit Institute, Boston College, explores themes from his new book. Co-sponsored with the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics.

SCU Ethnic Studies professor Anna Sampaio discusses her award-winning and timely book about immigration policy.

Join the SCU Library as we welcome Kate Cockrill, co-founder and co-director of the Sea Change Program which seeks to end stigma and shame around reproduction, and editor of Untold Stories. Susan Ito, an author whose essay is featured in the book, will join the discussion, along with SCU professors Michelle Oberman and Laura Ellingson.

Katy Butler, journalist and author, will discuss her New York Times bestseller, the story of a family's journey of living while dying and of the technology that prolongs the dying process creating more suffering than solace. Knocking on Heaven's Door exposes the difficult moral choices faced when the inevitable reality of death meets the technological advances of 21st century healthcare.

Sherwood Nation is the story of a major West Coast city facing drought and water rations. A group of activists take matters into their own hands in this "post-collapse non-apocalyptic novel".

In collaboration with Silicon Valley Reads, the University Library was pleased to bring the author, Benjamin Parzybok, to campus to share his inspiration for the novel. John Farnsworth, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Studies and Sciences joined us as moderator and interviewer.

Barely a week after his canonization, Professors Rose Marie Beebe and Robert Senkewicz examine the ways in which Junípero Serra, founder of the California missions, approached the native peoples of both Baja California and Alta California.

Lecturer Matthew Jobin discusses the background on his popular fiction novel, his writing process, and the connection between his work as an academic, anthropologist, and author.