Common-Read-2022-23
The AY 2022-23 Common Read Book Selection: The Beauty in Breaking by Michele Harper.
We are pleased to announce that the Common Read selection for Spring 2023 is the memoir The Beauty in Breaking by Dr. Michele Harper, an emergency room physician who has worked in hospitals in the Bronx, Philadelphia, and Trenton, NJ.
Harper’s memoir explores trauma, care, and healing as she recounts her experiences of personal trauma and loss, as well as the stories of the individuals she cares for in multiple hospital settings.
Mirroring the challenges and diversity of the injuries that Harper treats as a physician, her book engages with a myriad of issues including domestic abuse, mental illness, racial injustice, gun violence, sexual assault, and the brokenness of the medical system.
This text speaks powerfully to our cultural moment. In a time when we continue to endure collective traumas as the result of the pandemic, violence, and racism, Harper’s memoir provides multiple entries for discussing these problems, as well as how to cultivate care and healing as we face them. We invite all faculty from all disciplines to join us: Incorporate this text in your curriculum and participate in the week of Common Read events, in collaboration with the Kupferberg Holocaust Center, during the Spring 2023 semester.
This Common Read selection is an appropriate text across disciplines and student populations at our College, both in credit and non-credit courses.
“The Beauty in Breaking is a journey of a thousand judgment calls, including some lighter moments. Each one leads the author to a deeper understanding of herself and the reader to a clearer view of the inequities in our country. (An emergency room is a great equalizer, but only to an extent.) Just as Harper would never show up to examine a patient without her stethoscope, the reader should not open this book without a pen in hand. There are so many powerful beats you’ll want to underline.” The New York Times
“The Beauty in Breaking is aptly titled, as the author/physician beautifully shows there is indeed beauty in the examination of the trauma one has experienced and struggled to overcome. Her storytelling brims with hope while contributing to a broader conversation about diversity and meaningful inclusion in medical training and beyond.” Intima
“A timely, beautifully written memoir by a master storyteller in Michele Harper, a female, African American ER doctor who explores how she’s used a life of service—especially one within a white, male-dominated world—to not only heal her patients, but also herself.” Parade
If you have any questions relating to the Common Read, you may contact Meg Tarafdar at cetl@qcc.cuny.edu or Angela Ridinger-Dotterman at aridingerdotterman@qcc.cuny.edu to discuss possible connections between the text and your class.
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Common Read Events
THURSDAY, MARCH 23
Viewing of The Color of Care, 10:10-11:50 a.m., Room H-231
In Chapter 5 of The Beauty in Breaking, Michele Harper focuses on the ways that Black Americans have experienced racism within the healthcare system, including exploitation in medical research, medical procedures performed without patient consent, and disparate access to medical treatment. Join Professor Ridinger-Dotterman’s Introduction to Literature class for a viewing and discussion of the documentary The Color of Care. Produced in 2022 in response to the ways that BIPOC communities were disproportionately affected by the COVID 19 pandemic, The Color of Care explores racial inequities in the healthcare system.
Registration: https://forms.gle/w94U8kk2zNd2rhwLA
Mindfulness & Meditation, 2-3pm, Zoom,
At multiple points in The Beauty in Breaking, Michele Harper emphasizes the importance of mindfulness and meditation in both healing, and in maintaining physical and mental health. Join Professors Alison Cimino (English) & Joanne Chang (Music) as they ground us in helpful mindfulness and meditation to deepen awareness, mindfulness, and compassion for self and others. Students and faculty are invited. (Facilitated by Professor John Yi) Join via Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5135711136
FRIDAY, MARCH 24
The Impact of COVID on EMS Providers, 10:10-11:50 a.m., Hyflex
This presentation will highlight the findings from a 2-part study that looked at the psychological impact of COVID-19 on EMS providers at the height of COVID and in the years after. (Facilitated by Celia Sporer and Jody Resko).
Join via Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84757934162?pwd=N1BwYmdKQy94d3o0U0lLdUFSSThiQT09
Resiliency in the Workplace, Hyflex (H 339 and Zoom)
Join Prof. Miller’s Introduction to Creative Writing class for a poetry writing workshop about resilience. Students will brainstorm and search The Beauty In Breaking for language appropriate for a work themed poem, and then write and share their own poems.
Register to attend in person in H-339: 12:10 - 1:50 PM
Join via Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85975468334?pwd=c2YyVVE1ZVVEWnhSam4zTmxMMFZGQT09
MONDAY, MARCH 27
Open Circuits: Infinite Resistance, 4:50pm - 6pm, Blackboard Ultra
Open circuit: infinite resistance event consists of students creating graphic memories using a digital computer circuit learned in class to represent their experiences as an engineering technology student. This graphic memory has the purpose of self-reflecting on the difficulties that each student has or is facing towards their career and what students are doing to overcome these difficulties in the formation of their professional career. (Facilitated by Professor Hiuxin (Maritza) Wu)
Join via Collaborate: https://us.bbcollab.com/guest/b8e15ba476f84c6f9680e9042ae2fa1e
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29
In this Common Read Event, Drs. Melissa Dennihy and Danny Sexton, both of the English department will use Michele Harper’s memoir The Beauty in Breaking as a springboard to guide participants through a healing circle. Based on the work of Gail Christopher, this circle is an opportunity for participants to share their “personal life stories,” “connect with our shared humanity” and move “from fractionalization to wholeness.”
Christopher, Gail C. Rx Racial Healing: A Guide to Embracing our Humanity. Washington D.C.: American Association of Colleges and Universities, 2022.
Registration: https://forms.gle/YZuQNxzUoG2y5KaR7
Common Read Events
MONDAY, MARCH 20
Dr. Suzanne LaJoie: 10:10-11:00, Zoom
Dr. Suzanne LaJoie, ob/gyn -partner at Downtown Women’s and affiliated with NYU-Langone will share her experiences as a pre-med student at SUNY Albany and in medical school at SUNY Downstate and how she balances life as a parent and doctor (hosted by Professor Beth Counihan)
Join via Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89895221135?pwd=MmFTUE9nMG40R0xpb2xBcEZ2aW5iUT09
BRESI Research Talk: 12 - 1pm, Zoom
Throughout The Beauty in Breaking, Michele Harper highlights the ways in which systemic racism has shaped healthcare in the United States. In this Common Read event, students will hear from CUNY researchers whose work focuses on identifying and correcting racial disparities in health outcomes. Dr. Hiroshi Matsui and Dr. Olorunseun Ogunwobi (Hunter College) will discuss ongoing BRESI research entitled, Impacting prostate cancer disparity in Black men using RNA nanotherapeutics. (Facilitated by Professor John Yi).
Join via Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5135711136
Self-Care workshop; 2:30 - 4 pm; Z Building, Room 111
All are welcome to attend this interactive workshop. We’ll explore Social Presencing Theatre (SPT). SPT engages body-based practice and reflection which link head, heart, and hand in support of personal and social well-being.
The workshop will include 75-mins of facilitated practice followed by a 15-min discussion. The offering will be facilitated by QCC Theatre community members: Assistant Professor Heather Huggins, CTMP College Assistant and QCC Theatre alum Geovanny Guzman, and Adjunct Assistant Professor and QCC Theatre alumna Jess Kreisler.
Please be prepared to remove your shoes when you enter the studio.
The Z Building is located by the Q27 bus stop. Here’s a campus map which includes the campus access points.
Registration: https://forms.gle/x3UGSpan2VZSgojn7
TUESDAY, MARCH 21
Healing from COVID through Art, 12:10-1:50 p.m., Student Union
This in-person event includes an introductory presentation about the Japanese art of Kintsugi, followed by an arts-and-crafts event for all participants. Kintsugi, also called kintsukuroi, is an art form that emphasizes the beauty of fracture and reconnection. It is, in part, the inspiration for the title of Harper’s memoir, as Kintsugi emphasizes “the beauty in breaking.” In this event, students will be invited to engage in a kinesthetic and creative project inspired by Kintsugi in connection with their own experiences of struggle during the COVID 19 pandemic. (Facilitated by Professors Charissa Che, Ilse Schrynemakers, and Tanya Zhelezcheva.) Registration: https://forms.gle/jwTb1geWZwXefUgA6
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22
Urban Communities and Community/Personal Trauma: Music and Media in the Therapeutic Process
9-11am; M130
Join students in Professor Adrian Bordoni’s Crime and Justice in Urban Communities course. Students will share their examples of songs/media that discuss urban community issues of trauma, and how music and media can be part of the therapeutic process. (Facilitated by Criminal Justice 204 Students in Professor Adrian Bordoni’s class) Registration: https://forms.gle/ALiaGTdEdi3WVz6z9
Locating A Tribe Called Quest: Subverting Trauma with Music: 10:10-11:50 a.m., Humanities 238
Dr. Harper makes extensive references to music throughout Beauty in the Breaking as an outlet. A Tribe Called Quest is one such “artist,” originally from Queens (19). We hope to examine songs from A Tribe Called Quest and explore notions of trauma and some connections drawn from Dr. Harper’s narrative. (Facilitated by English 101 Students in Professor John Yi’s class)
Registration: https://forms.gle/vdgwVE93TygMKUDV6
