Mizzou Reads Summer 2012

In its 9th year, Mizzou Reads offers students a wonderful selection to explore themes such as  love, family, home, health, freedom, civic duty, betrayal, and hope. This year's selection ties in to many areas of Human Environmental Sciences. The book describes homes and apartments provided by the government, work uniforms provided by the government, family relationships among several different types of families, and health issues related to famine. The author gives rich details about culture, society and the human spirit.

Freshmen are asked to read the book over the summer. When students arrive on campus in August there will be small book discussion groups offered throughout campus. Students may attend any, or many, of the discussions to meet other students and exchange ideas. An important part of this book takes place in the mid 1990's (just about the time most entering freshmen this fall were born).

In NOTHING TO ENVY,  Barbara Demick follows the lives of six people: a couple of teenaged lovers courting in secret, an idealistic woman doctor, a homeless boy, a model factory worker who loves Kim Il Sung more than her own family.


While many books focus on the North Korean nuclear threat, NOTHING TO ENVY is one of the few that dwells on what everyday life is like for ordinary citizens. As you read about each of these individuals, compare their values, experiences, and decisions to your own.

“No writer I know has done a better job of clothing these academic concerns with the rich detail of the lives of ordinary people — explaining, simply, what it feels like to be a citizen of the cruelest, most repressive and most retrograde country in the world…. Outstanding work of journalism.”
Richard Lloyd Parry –The Times (of London).

I encourage parents to read the book as well. Discuss where you were at this point in time, and what perceptions you have of North Korea based on the media and government information made available. How do you feel about the perceptions they have of Americans? We are in an election year for the president of our country. What advice would you give to brand new, young voters about how to make important decisions about the candidates running for office?

Zeitoun was the 2011 Mizzou Reads book choice

The true story of one family, caught between America’s two biggest policy disasters: the war on terror and the response to Hurricane Katrina.

Abdulrahman and Kathy Zeitoun run a house-painting business in New Orleans. In August of 2005, as Hurricane Katrina approaches, Kathy evacuates with their four young children, leaving Zeitoun to watch over the business.
Through the story of Zeitoun, the author invites the reader to explore abuse of power. Racism is another issue addressed throughout the book. It is not only Abdulrahman who is discriminated against, but also his wife Kathy, a convert to Islam who wears a hijab. It is mentioned several times in the text that she is looked at differently for her Muslim attire everywhere from the grocery store to the DMV.

Although racism is a theme, it should be noted that two of the men taken into custody with Abdulrahman, as well as many others caught up in the same net, were not Muslims and also had their rights to due process abrogated.

The book raises discussion points about family, community, authority, prejudice, freedom and much more.

Mizzou Reads: Summer Reading Program

The Mizzou Reads program introduces new students to the academic culture of Mizzou. It offers all members of the MU community an opportunity to engage in discussions on topics of civil, social, and cultural importance. The reading program encourages students to begin examining their own life, values, and goals. The journey to become an educated person and life-long learner begins with meaningful interaction between students and faculty.

The Mizzou Reads program offers small group discussions throughout the campus during the first few days before classes begin. Students will learn about the book discussion times and locations when they move into their residence halls in August. The discussion groups offer an excellent introduction to the academic experience in a low pressure, informal environment. Students are encouraged to attend several discussion groups to meet a variety of students and faculty.

Over the past five years students have read books on a wide range of topics through this program. Book selections have included non-fiction titles such as Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age, and fiction stories such as Tortilla Curtain which contrasted the life of an illegal immigrant couple with a middle class couple both living in California and seeking the American dream. No matter what book the campus selects for the reading program, I am always pleased to discover that the themes relate in some way to issues in Human Environmental Sciences.

This year's selection, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, is no exception. The book debuted as the #1 book in the nation, and it held the top position for 4 straight weeks. In addition to being #1 on The New York Times hardcover fiction list, it also was #1 on nearly every national bestseller list, including USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post.

The book's main characters, Mariam and Laila, are two women who are born a generation apart and with very different ideas about love, education and family. They are brought together by war, by loss and by fate. They come to depend on each other for survival. Their experiences in a dangerous environment create a bond in which they choose to become both sisters and mother-daughter at times. Hosseini provides a story that illustrates how a woman's love for her family can move her to shocking and heroic acts of self-sacrifice and courage. The power of love and the strength of family can provide the keys to survival under the most difficult circumstances.

The College of Human Environmental Sciences is concerned with improving the quality of life for individuals and families wherever they live and work. Quality of life is one person’s perception of, and satisfaction with, his or her circumstances. In the Journal of Family and Consumer Sciences, McGregor and Goldsmith[1] define quality of life as hope for the future, land, adequate food, clothing, shelter, income, employment opportunities, maternal and child health, and family and social welfare. As you read A Thousand Splendid Suns, think about the quality of life for Mariam and Laila at different times throughout the book. What determines their quality of life? How does their quality of life change over time? What do Mariam and Laila do to help improve their quality of life? How does the quality of their life compare to others where they live? How does the quality of their life compare to yours?

Read -- Think -- Discuss -- Relate -- Enjoy

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[1] McGregor, S.L.T. and Goldsmith, E.B. (1998). Expanding out understanding of quality of life, standard of living, and well-being. Journal of Family and Consumer Sciences, 90(2), 2-6, 22.

Better Living-- Solutions for Missouri Families

A Brief Bit of History

Mizzou was established in 1839. The University of Missouri was the first public university west of the Mississippi River. In fact, it's the first in Thomas Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase Territory. You can read more about our rich Mizzou history. Federal legislation known as the Morrill Land-Grant College Act was passed in 1862. This legislation provided federal land as a gift to each state to establish a public institution for higher education. Mizzou was awarded 'land-grant' status in 1870. The mission of each land-grant institution, according to the 1862 Act, is to focus on teaching, science and engineering in addition to the historic core of classical studies. This was largely in response to the industrial revolution and changing social class structures.

The Land-Grant Mission in Three Part Harmony

The mission for all land-grant institutions includes teaching, research, and dissemination of information to the citizens throughout the state. Faculty teach students in classrooms and through on-line courses. Faculty continue to develop new knowledge through research. They don’t just read the textbooks and teach from what is already known—they conduct research to discover new knowledge, and they bring that new information to the classroom. Then, faculty disseminate that knowledge throughout the state through the University of Missouri Extension Service. There are 114 counties and the City of St Louis in Missouri. Mizzou faculty are located in all of these counties to bring the information and research from our campus to the citizens. You can locate your county extension office at http://extension.missouri.edu/

MU Extension offers a wide array of topics from managing a small business to updating the energy efficiency of your home to creating a fire protection plan for your community. The faculty in the College of Human Environmental Sciences focus on home and health, child care, personal finance, etc. The Better Living publication features some of our most recent research. You can find much more available online at MissouriFamilies.org.

About MissouriFamilies.org

MissouriFamilies provides unbiased, research-based solutions for better living. Mizzou faculty are engaged in research and have expertise on topics such as family financial education, designs for living and working environments, human development, nutrition and wellness, and community support systems.

MissouriFamilies is provided by University of Missouri Extension, a partnership of the University of Missouri campuses; Lincoln University; the people of Missouri through county extension councils; and the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The College of Human Environmental Sciences strives to bring solutions for better living to you and your family.

Welcoming our new students

Welcome to Mizzou
This week we begin Summer Welcome to meet the incoming freshmen students and register them for fall classes. New students are excited, nervous, eager, apprehensive, sometimes undecided, sometimes overwhelmed, but always anxious to begin the transition from high school to college. Their energy is inspiring and contagious.

In many ways Mizzou is a big place. We have more than 30,000 students. It is possible to be anonymous and attend classes without attracting attention or meeting other students. But it doesn't have to be that way. HES is a smaller college at a large university. It is very possible to meet a lot of students, get to know faculty and get involved on campus. I encourage all students to take advantage of the wonderful resources of a large public institution while reaping the benefits of what feels like a small private college dedicated to their academic interests.

Welcome to the College of Human Environmental Sciences
With a 109-year tradition at Mizzou, we continue to focus on creating scientific solutions to everyday problems. The times change, the technologies change, but the emphasis on improving the quality of life for individuals and families does not change. Visit our website to learn more about the faculty and degree programs we offer http://hes.missouri.edu/