2021 DCRP Events
Below is a listing of the events that took place as a part of the 2021 Diversity Common Reader Program at NMU.
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2020-2021 Book Selection
Working squarely within the prophetic tradition of literary giants James Baldwin and Richard Wright, Coates explores what it means to live in a black body in contemporary America. Between the World and Me folds trenchant social critique into an intimate letter addressed to the author's son, and is a singular and deeply compelling treatment of issues at the heart of the antiracist protests that have defined 2020.
Information about the HBO film and podcast inspired by "Between the World and Me"
Fall 2020 Book Discussion
Last semester, NMU undergraduate and graduate students gathered virtually to discuss this year's DCRP selection, "Between the World and Me." Hear what they had to say. When you're done, mark your calendar for some of our upcoming events.
January 2021
Ongoing
Book giveaway
Books are available for free to NMU students at the NMU library. Request an e-book here.
Writing contest
Submissions due by February 22, 2021
January 29 · 4 p.m.
Book Discussion: Coates and Current Events
January 30 · 7 p.m. · Jamrich 1100
Black Panther screening (collaboration with Campus Cinema)
February 2021
Ongoing
Book giveaway
Books are available for free to NMU students at the NMU library. Request an e-book here.
Writing contest
Submissions due by February 22, 2021
February 2 · 2 p.m.
Discussion of Black Panther and Afrofuturism
Facilitator: Leah Milne, Assistant Professor of English, University of Indianapolis
February 10 · 5 p.m.
Book discussion: Perceptions of the Black Body: Stigmas, Stereotypes & Prejudice
Facilitator: D'Mario Duckett, President of the NMU Black Student Union
February 19 · 5-6:30 p.m.
Faculty Lecture: “How Racism Hurts White Men: Understanding W. E. B. Du Bois and the Structural Foundation of Racism”
Carter Wilson, Professor and Head of Political Science, NMU
February 24 · 10 a.m.-noon
Critical Literacy Workshop (collaboration with the NMU Archives)
Julie M. Porterfield, Instruction and Outreach Archivist, Penn State University Libraries
February 24 · 7 p.m.
A Hollywood Career in Costume Design with Ruth E. Carter, costume designer for Black Panther (an Alpha Psi Omega event)
February 25 · 8:30 p.m.
Screening of I Am Not Your Negro, dir. Raoul Peck (in collaboration with the Culture Shock Film Society) Note: NMU students, faculty, and staff can also stream the film through the Lydia M. Olson Library.
February 26 · 7 p.m.
Discussion of I Am Not Your Negro, dir. Raoul Peck
Facilitators: Lesley Larkin, David Robinson, NMU Department of English)
March 2021
Ongoing
Book giveaway
Books are available for free to NMU students at the NMU library. Request an e-book here.
March 10 · 12 p.m.
Book discussion: Gender and Sexuality in Between the World and Me (collaboration with Gender and Sexuality Studies)
Facilitator: Ruth Watry, Professor of Political Science
March 18 · 6 p.m.
Zine workshop: “Imagining a Better Future: A Bookmaking and Worldbuilding Workshop”
Facilitator: Madelyn Pawlowski, Assistant Professor of English
March 25 · 10 a.m.
Lecture: "'Hiding in Plain Sight': Black and Foreign in a 'White' Nation" (collaboration with UNITED)
Erika Edwards, Associate Professor of History, University of North Carolina, Charlotte
March 26 · 2 p.m.
Book Discussion (collaboration with UNITED)
Facilitator: Erika Edwards, Associate Professor of History, University of North Carolina, Charlotte
April 2021
Book giveaway (ongoing)
Books are available for free to NMU students at the NMU library. Request an e-book here.
April 21 · 7pm
Keynote Lecture: "Examining Grief, Testimony, and Ritual," Dr. Kette Thomas, Professor of Diverse Literatures, Michigan Technological University
April 23 · 2pm
Lecture: "Understanding and Addressing Health Disparities: A Community Approach Perspective," Celeste Sanchez Lloyd, Governor’s Racial Disparities and COVID-19 Task Force (collaboration with UNITED)
DCRP/Passages North Creative Writing Contest
About the Contest
Sharing our stories lends us to empowerment, empathy, and a critical understanding of our conscious and subconscious ways of thinking, as well as the systems we participate in. To that end, Passages North invites you to submit a work of creative writing inspired by the themes and events of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World & Me. We welcome poems, essays, or stories, so long as your submission is less than 1000 words and you navigate topics of identity and intersectionality with authenticity.
We encourage BIPOC, uniquely-abled, economically marginalized, and queer and trans writers to submit. If you’re wondering if your submission needs a content warning, go ahead and add it to your document and know that we appreciate your care.
We look forward to reading your work.
Who Can Enter
All undergraduate NMU students are eligible to enter.
How to Enter
Email your submission as an attachment to passages@nmu.edu by February 22, 2021. The winning piece will be awarded $100 and publication on http://www.passagesnorth.com.
We'd love to hear from you.
Once you've read the book, please submit a brief video response (3 minutes) to Between the World and Me: Virtual Voices, which will highlight perspectives from students, staff, faculty and community members.