book pick: Kurt Vonnegut, Bluebeard

I love all Kurt Vonnegut's books, but the last few passages of this one are some of my favorite of any book: "Oh, happy Meat. Oh, happy Soul. Oh, happy Rabo Karabekian."

book pick: Franking Foer, How Soccer Explains the World

I have always been a crazy fan of soccer from the time I was a kid, and have always looked at the world through the lens of sport and soccer in particular. This book elegantly uses soccer as a metaphor to explain phenomena that we have witnessed over the past decades - including things like globalization, tribalism, corruption and nationalism. This book helped me understand the power of simple metaphors in the explanation of complex concepts.

book pick: Todd Zakrajsek, Teaching for Learning

Dr. Zakrajsek presented at Teaching Camp in 2016 and significantly impacted the way I designed my courses. I used this book, which was the basis for his presentations, as a guide in helping me develop meaningful, active learning experiences in my courses and continue to use these principles in course, curricular, and program development.

book pick: Donella H. Meadows [and others], The Limits to Growth; a Report for the Club of Rome's Project on the Predicament of Mankind

I was introduced to this book in my undergraduate coursework in the 1970's. It was a visionary use of computer modeling to forecast the future state of the world. Though I did not fully grasp understanding of these models at that time, I was enthralled by the many pages of graphics illustrating the outcome of computer simulations. The repetitive pattern of systems: exponential growth, overshoot, stasis, then collapse was stunning and an irresistible attraction for me. I later mastered the nuances of systems thinking and system dynamics and incorporated this knowledge into my broadly interdisciplinary research interests. I hope this book will inspire you to tackle the Grand Challenges and Wicked Problems facing civilization. "Speak Truth to Power".

book pick: Audrey Watters, Teaching Machines

It provides perspective on education technology. We tend to assume that ed tech began with computers, but roughly a century ago, education researchers and psychologists were already exploring ways to use machines as tools for delivering school curriculum and personalized instructional modules.

book pick: Robert Putnam, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of the American Community

I first read this book at a time when my own research trajectory was still taking shape. Putnam got me interested in social trust as a concept, as a barometer for how cohesive (or not) a given society is. And where he questioned the potential for media use to contribute to outcomes like trusting, I try to embrace social aspects of technology in the promotion of trust, as well as for reducing measures like loneliness and prejudice.

book pick: Walter Lippmann, Public Opinion

This book shows how journalists and communicators can change our society. The first chapter, "The World Outside and the Pictures in Our Heads," clearly explains how public opinion is formed and can be manipulated - the world outside can be totally different from our understanding and perception.

book pick: Lev Vygotsky, Mind in Society

During my own doctoral studies, I had the good fortune of studying Mind in Society (and Vygotskian theory more broadly) with Vladimir Ageyev from the University of Moscow. Subsequently, I have had the opportunity to share that learning with dozens of doctoral students who have benefitted from better understanding cultural-historical theory and Vygotsky's ongoing educational influence.

book pick: Carl Zuckmayer, Der Hauptmann von Köpenick

This 1931 play is based on a true story about a released convict who has served his time and tries to re-enter society but finds every path blocked until he acquires a Prussian uniform and impersonates an officer, not to steal money or get revenge but simply to obtain the right kind of paperwork that will allow him to work legally. Zuckmayer attempted to show his fellow German-speakers both the dangers of blindly following authority and how easy it is for the disadvantaged to become trapped in a catch-22 of bureaucracy. Zuckmayer's writing is beautifully evocative of place and class, and the structure of the play is ingenious—the work follows the uniform as its own character. To me, it is also a reminder that every member of our society is worthy and has something to contribute if they are allowed to.

book pick: Bill Watterson, The Complete Calvin and Hobbes

Calvin and Hobbes was an extremely popular comic strip when I was a kid. Even then it was clear that each strip was a deep and enduring bit of daily literature. The spirit of the strip combines a child's playful imagination with an adult's cynical eye for authority, which led to wild adventures, pranks, and philosophies on life, the universe, and everything. I would like to think that reading it every day instilled some of those same qualities in me, informing both my personality and my approach to science. The first thing I purchased when COVID closed everything down was this complete collection. It was a testament to the enduring quality of C&H to watch my kids digest the entire set multiple times that year and beyond. It has already given them some of the same humor and imagination that it gave me. In our hyperconnected, screen-filled world, seeing kids respond to C&H gives me hope for the future.

book pick: Rohinton Mistry, A Fine Balance

One of my favorite novels that I've read is A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. I was influenced by this book because I learned a lot about the culture of India that I didn't know, and about the struggles that various people have in their lives as they try to find balance in the face of difficult situations. The narrative is conveyed through the eyes of marginalized people, and the writing is very captivating.

book pick: Allan M. Brandt, The Cigarette Century

Brandt's historical documentation of the tobacco industry's manipulation of marketing, research, and legislation is enough to make anyone want to study tobacco regulatory science.

book pick: Stephen Covey, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

Professor Covey's book made me aware that a professor's research can be distilled to key practices that can positively influence the lives of millions of people.

book pick: John James Audubon, John Bachman, Victor Cahalane, The Imperial Collection of Audubon Animals: The Quadrupeds of North America

My father (a biology professor) and mother (studied zoology) decided to not have a TV in our house as I was growing up in the 70s and 80s. I wasn't always happy with this decision, but it did mean I had ample time to explore the outdoors and peruse our home library for “entertainment.” One of my favorite books was Audubon's collection of watercolors of North American mammals. These early experiences shaped my interests and guided my career decisions.

book pick: Anni Albers, On Weaving

Anni Albers began her study of weaving at the Bauhaus in 1922 when women were directed away from other areas of study, such as architecture, toward more feminine crafts. She reimagined the role of woven textiles in the modern era. Her large scale and highly abstract weavings became spatial devices—planar walls, dividers, window screens—in dialog with architecture. Her focus on weaving structures and surfaces inspired my interest in investigating architecture informed by weaving.

book pick: William McNeill, Plagues and Peoples

I'm always fascinated by human history and what it can teach us. This book nicely summarizes the role of infectious diseases in shaping human history.

book pick: Tayor Branch, Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954-63

I adopted two mixed race children, and I wanted to not only understand the struggles that someone that our society would identify as black were likely to fact, but the history of that struggle. I found the explanations and depictions of the early years of the American Civil Rights Movement to be compelling and deeply troubling, and as we seem to be backsliding, I have recently re-read that account in an effort to understand how we might move forward from where we find ourselves today.

book pick: Patrick Sharkey, Stuck in Place

Sharkey empirically demonstrates the ways that upward social mobility for some groups in the United States remains undermined by the communities in which they grow up. This means that things like poverty, inequality, and exposure to crime in childhood and adolescence can lead to a cycle of stagnation across generations that leaves some “stuck” in the same kinds of deleterious places when they are adults. While the substance of his work remains an important contribution to sociology and criminology, Sharkey's writing is also very direct, well-structured, and serves as a template or graduate and undergraduate students alike.

book pick: Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

Gibran's timeless masterpiece speaks of and to the human soul, providing nourishment and inspiration for so many of life's questions. The lesser-known part of his famous quote "Work is love made visible" in which he goes on to say, "And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy," is an attitude I try to embody every work day and especially when I enter the classroom to teach.

book pick: Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth

This book taught me at a very young age what it means to be clever.

book pick: Agatha Christie, Murder on the Orient Express

I have always loved mystery novels and especially those by Agatha Christie. These books taught me the joy of trying to figure out an unobvious solution as well as how to look at a problem from many different angles These critical thinking skills are the foundation for the research I do today. I especially enjoyed Murther on the Orient Express because it was not only a complex mystery, but also raised ethical questions about how should we hold people accountable for their actions.

book pick: Peter Matthiessen, The Snow Leopard

I first read this book during a year off from college, when I was hiking in New Zealand for three months. The themes of exploration, pilgrimage, and the quest for the semi-mythic have resonated both personally and in my research as a geographer.

book pick: Clifford D. Simak, Way Station

Reading this book was the first time I encountered a glimpse of America beyond the usual icons of New York, Chicago, Disney, or Hollywood. It planted a vivid view of the Wisconsin countryside in the late 19th century deep within the mind of a 9-year-old boy growing up in the rural areas of East China. This book broadened my understanding of the diversity of the universe, the richness of living creatures, and the splendor of human cultures.

book pick: Milton Van Dyke, An Album of Fluid Motion

This book presents photographs of flows that are observed directly in nature or made visible using techniques in the laboratory. Over 400 beautiful black-and-white photographs, collected from around the world, illustrate the great diversity of fluid motion.

book pick: Lori Gottlieb, Maybe You Should Talk to Someone

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone is a reminder of our shared humanity, our enduring need for supportive relationships, and the healing power of connection. Though life (and the professoriate) is full of ups, downs, twists, and turns, we need not traverse it alone. My life has been immeasurably enriched by the many people who tenderly listened to me when I was discouraged, helped me see a path forward when I was lost, and exuberantly celebrated with me when I finally reached my destination. I will be forever grateful for those people, and this book, for sharing the journey with me.

book pick: John P. Kotter, Leading Change

Leading Change is a book that had a positive impact on my professional career and leading projects. The book presents a systematic approach to managing change to achieve positive outcomes.

book pick: Merlin Donald, Origins of the modern mind: Three stages in the evolution of culture and cognition

This book offers a daring and imaginative approach to comprehending the pivotal inquiry in the realm of life sciences: How was the unparalleled power of the human mind attained?

book pick: Cal Newport, Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World

It's alright to focus on work when you're supposed to focus on work. Faculty success happens when efforts are not spread out.

book pick: Carolyn Edwards, Lella Gandini, George Forman, The Hundred Languages of Children: The Reggio Emilia Approach-Advanced Reflections

The book changed my perspective on my role as a teacher and advanced my understanding about the capabilities of children when they are partners in their learning. I have used the book since 1998 to guide my practice with teachers and children because there is always something more to gain from the text.

book pick: David Bohm and Basil Hiley, The Undivided Universe

Although the subject of the book is not directly related to my research but it provides a deeper and broader interpretation of physical theory, which is the basis of my own approach to science.

book pick: Patricia Hill Collins, Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness and the Politics of Empowerment

While it is difficult to choose one book from among the many scholars and titles to which I have turned, Patricia Hill Collins stands out as highly influential in my thinking and research. Among the achievements in this classic work, Collins masterfully integrates the work of interactional (micro), organizational and macro social thought – from both within and at the margins of the canon – developing a lens through which we can examine social penalties and privileges. Collins' work compels us not only to unpack the complexity of oppression and opportunity, but also social change and academic work, including the production of knowledge itself.

book pick: Hardy Cross, Engineers and Ivory Towers

Hardy Cross was an influential structural engineer, researcher, and educator. This book is a collection of essays that he wrote about the profession of engineering and about education. A former student of mine, Caleb Chesnut, introduced me to this collection. While the essays were written in the 1920s and 30s, the topics are just as relevant to engineering today: the role of the professor in the development of students, the importance of fundamental scientific knowledge in engineering, the history of engineering thought, and the purpose of education in general. I appreciate that a person who devoted their life to engineering and math also took the time to think deeply about these topics and to write his thoughts down. As a newly tenured faculty member, I hope I can take part in the same kind of broader reflection about what it means to be a professor and to teach engineering to the next generation. Hardy Cross said, "The purpose of education is to prepare a whole man [person] to live a full life in a whole world," and I fully agree!

book pick: Leo W. Buss, The Evolution of Individuality

I read this book as a graduate student and was fascinated by Leo Buss's idea about how complex multicellularity – e.g. animals, plants and fungi – evolved from unicellular ancestors. This book strongly influenced my thoughts about key innovations and conditions necessary for this so-called major transition in the history of life, and is the reason why I became passionate about understanding the fundamental mechanisms by which differentiated states of neurons and other somatic cell types are maintained in animals.

book pick: Randall Munroe, What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions

"What if a Richter magnitude 15 earthquake were to hit America?" In his book, Munroe is asked a number of hypothetical questions with often dire outcomes. In his answers to these questions, Munroe finds ways to answer not just the question at its surface, but rather the more interesting questions that hadn't even been asked along the way. It is curiosity for curiosity's sake. This book is emblematic of the books and authors that have inspired me to continue to ask questions until you find ones that are really interesting. Questions that by simply asking them reframe your thinking. I chose this career so that I can ask those kinds of questions and hopefully instill and foster creativity in the minds of students.

book pick: Robert Katzmann, Judging Statutes

While in law school, I invited Judge Robert Katzmann to campus to present his book, Judging Statutes. Not only did I find the book fascinating—I still frequently return to it in my own research—but I also thought that Judge Katzmann's presentation was incredible. In fact, the passion he had for legal scholarship helped launch my own interest in the legal academy. Unfortunately, Judge Katzmann recently passed away, but I'll always be thankful for his book, his presentation, and his encouraging words to me during that formative time in my life.

book pick: Kathryn Jackson, Nurse Nancy

This children's book was the reason my mom learned about the nursing field and decided to become a nurse later in life. She read it to me as a child and it inspired me to be in a profession that helped people as well.

book pick: Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes

I always loved how Sherlock Holmes used of logic and deduction to solve cases. In the Ph.D. program I gained appreciation of the inductive logic and I try to combine both in my research.

book pick: Wendell Berry, Unsettling of America

Probably the book I always come back to is Wendell Berry's Unsettling of America because it grabs hold of a lot of the questions rural folks are dealing with globally, not just here, and tries to give them and their communities recognition of their worth in the world instead of belittling them.

book pick: William Golding, Lord of the Flies

It's my most hated book of all time and my hate for it is STRONG.

book pick: Craig Werner, A Change is Gonna Come: Music, Race, and the Soul of America

Looking back at my undergraduate studies in biomedical engineering two decades ago, one of my most influential courses was Afro 156 at the University of Wisconsin. The course and its companion book helped to redefine and contextualize popular music history for me. It opened my eyes to the experiences of a much broader and diverse cross-section of America than I had previously known growing up in a small town in Wisconsin. As I learned of the interconnected elements of gospel, blues, jazz, soul, and hip hop, we discussed the many subtle and not-so-subtle ways conversations about racism, inequality, and civil rights were woven throughout popular music over the decades. A Change is Gonna Come, and the music that inspired the book, offers hope that these important conversations will stand the test of time.

book pick: J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

This book holds a special place in my heart as it was the very first book I read in English (after having read the first two in Spanish), which then gave me the confidence to pursue my dream of enrolling in college—a dream I had cherished since I was a child. What makes this book even more special is that its story teaches us that confronting and overcoming our fears is essential for personal growth and resilience. It stands as a powerful reminder that literature can help us find the strength to transform our lives.

book pick: Sarah Jane Case, The Honest Enneagram

I read this little book during COVID, and it was a great introduction into better understanding my own personality-type along with learning how to relate to other personality-types! I highly recommend it!

book pick: T.H. White, The Once and Future King

Revised after World War II, The Once and Future King reflects on how and when power can be used, when might makes right, and how easily ideas of righteousness can be twisted into abuse. This book isn't the only one to address these ideas, but it's one of the few written for a fourteen year old trying to make sense of the world and how he wanted to live in it.

book pick: Confucius' disciples, The Analects of Confucius

This book includes messages, questions, answers, and discussions from Confucius, his disciples, and the general population on various topics such as political philosophy, leadership, social philosophy, education, and more. Through this book, I have learned how to learn, teach, research, and communicate with individuals in our society. The following words are my favorite because they guide me to continue learning and practicing, communicating with others, and recognizing the credits and talents of peers, students, teachers, and leaders. Confucius said, "Is it not a pleasure to study and constantly apply the lessons that you have learned? Is it not a joy to have friends coming from distant places? Is it not the mark of a leader to remain unconcerned even when others do not recognize your talents?"

book pick: Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything

For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated by the way things work. Much of this attraction likely stems from my youth where I spent a seemingly endless number of hours watching my father, a mechanic, solve a variety of automotive puzzles. As I grew older, I began to realize that my interest in understanding how things work extended well beyond the definitive patterns present in the mechanical realm. Those same fascinations exist when trying to understand a variety of aspects about the way the world works. For me, academics provides an amazing opportunity to explore this and, if I were to pick a point that I realized this could be the case, it would be when I read the first Freakonomics book. While the current version of me is much more skeptical of the "stories" presented in the book, I will forever appreciate the way the book changed my perspective on identifying and attempting to understand the boundless number of patterns that exist in the world. It is this same perspective that feeds my academic research appetite.

book pick: Wilbert McKeachie and Marilla Svinincki, McKeachie's Teaching Tips

This was one of the first teaching books I read as a new teacher. The book had practical examples that I could incorporate to increase the active learning components of my course. 

book pick: Laurie Anderson, All the Things I Lost in the Flood

I've been thinking lately about Laurie Anderson's "All the Things I Lost in the Flood" in relationship to the many forms of turbulence experienced acutely in the last few years. The necessity to incessantly pivot and reconfigure course has been ingrained into our systems – instability, insecurity, unpredictability, nomadism, and disappointment have served as constant if undesired companions fueling generative potential. As Anderson's book adeptly expresses, the logic of the present may be understood as rooted in survival. Although not easily diagrammed, the reformulation and evolution of contemporary art making reflects nimble and expansive paths undeterred by the unexpected.

book pick: Daniel Miller, Stuff

While I'm an historian, Daniel Miller is an anthropologist who investigates the way that people interact with things in various cultures. He makes the provocative argument that while we like to think that things are something we use, or acquire, or manipulate, things are not always, or maybe ever, passive objects. Miller has a provocative passage about how wearing a sari influences a woman's posture so that she crooks an arm a certain way, juts a hip a certain angle, to conform her body to the needs of the garment. Miller's observations made me think about cigarettes because they also act on smokers. Beyond biological dependency, smoking influences postures, creates social groups, and dictates spaces for meeting. Further, tobacco perfumes the body from the inside out as tissues absorb then diffuse the scent. Smoking's' signs stand outside the control of the user, just as the sari influences the posture of the wearer. These are things making behaviors rather than simply being consumed.

book pick: Mikhail Il'in, One Hundred Thousand Whys

This book series, given to me as an award for a writing competition at age 11, sparked my curiosity in scientific research and eventually contributed to my life journey as a researcher and educator.

book pick: Robert A. Weinberg, The Biology of Cancer

The book has helped me formulate the foundation of my research by connecting diseases and their underlying molecular and cellular mechanism.

book pick: Ibram X. Kendi, How to be an Antiracist

book pick: Linus Pauling, The Nature of the Chemical Bond and the Structure of Molecules and Crystals

As a member in the Chemistry Tree of Linus Pauling, I always wonder who could do what that can complement Pauling's century-old Chemical Bonding Theory.

book pick: Mark Banks, Creative Justice: Cultural Industries, Work and Inequality

Studying systemic inequalities in the cultural industries is of foremost importance as it reveals the deep-rooted disparities related to race, gender, socioeconomic status, and more that persist in society. By understanding and addressing these inequalities, we can foster a more inclusive and representative cultural landscape that reflects the richness of human experiences and contributes to a fairer and more just society.

book pick: Irene Vallejo, Papyrus

A passionate manifesto about how the book is a form of technology and why it matters. I have read my whole life and this book is for those who love to read.

book pick: Elena Danielson, The Ethical Archivist

I've been influenced by a number of wonderful books, among them Elena Danielson's The Ethical Archivist, which I first read in grad school and have come back to a number of times since. It changed the way I thought about archival practice, moving from an understanding that was more records-centric to one that was focused on the rights and needs of the people creating, preserving, and using those records.

book pick: Silvia Rivera Cusicanqui, Ch'ixinakax utxiwa: A Reflection on the Practices and Discourses of Decolonization

Rivera Cusicanqui's work shifted my previous understanding of decolonization and decolonial education that center the perspectives of the Global North. The book enabled me to comprehend how colonialism continues to exist within academic discourse and practice in a more critical way.

book pick: Steven Johnson, Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation

I was inspired by the book Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation by Steven Johnson and related discussions in Dr. Shaila Miranda's PhD seminar.