Grant Funds Hope Workshop about “Big Read”-Style Programs
The success of the “NEA Big Read Lakeshore” organized by Hope College each fall has led to a grant that is enabling Hope to present a workshop in March for other colleges and universities from around the country that are operating or interested in developing such campus-community programs of their own.
The Lilly National Network of Church-Related Colleges and Universities has awarded Hope $25,000 through its Network Exchange Program to present “Hope College Big Read: Literature Connecting Campus and Community” on Sunday-Wednesday, March 6-9. The workshop will be attended by 13 faculty members and administrators from other higher education institutions that, like Hope, are members of the network. It will use the “Big Read Lakeshore” as an entry point in exploring the intersections between literature, campus, and community engagement and faith commitment.
“I’m excited to let others know about our Big Read program and invite them into the kinds of conversations and intentional planning we do around literature and community engagement. My hope is that our participants will be inspired in the work they do around literature-based programming and that collectively we can brainstorm future possibilities on our campuses and in our communities,” said Dr. Deborah Van Duinen, an associate professor of English education at Hope who is founding director of the NEA Big Read Lakeshore and organizing the workshop. “To be able to network in this way with faculty members and administrators from across the country is an amazing opportunity and I’m so honored that Hope College is recognized as a leader in this kind of work around literature.”
The NEA Big Read Lakeshore is an annual month-long, community-wide reading program that brings people together around a common book and uses the shared experience of reading, discussing and exploring the topics of the book as a springboard to listen and learn from each other. In collaboration with area schools, libraries, non-profit organizations and businesses, the Big Read offers more than 50 events and book discussions during the month of programming, and regularly involves 12,000 participants of all ages.
During the course of their visit to Hope, the workshop participants will be invited to attend seminars, plenary sessions and campus events; interact with program teachers, librarians and students; and contribute to breakout conversations on related topics and share perspectives and ideas from their home institutions. Topics will include articulating faith-based approaches to studying and discussing literature; aligning institutional missions and program goals; sharing best practices around program implementation and community partnerships; and conducting research and scholarship related to the programs.
The “NEA Big Read Lakeshore” began in the fall of 2014, and the “Little Read Lakeshore” for young readers was added in 2017. All eight of the “NEA Big Read Lakeshore” programs received funding through the “Big Read” program of the National Endowment for the Arts, and each of the most recent three “Little Read Lakeshore” programs have received grants from Michigan Humanities. More information is available at bigreadlakeshore.com.
Founded in 1991, the Lilly Fellows Program seeks to strengthen the quality and shape the character of church-related institutions of higher education. Among several initiatives, it maintains a collaborative National Network of Church-Related Colleges and Universities that sponsors a variety of activities including grant and fellowship programs designed to explore the Christian character of the academic vocation and to strengthen the religious nature of church-related institutions. Network Exchange Programs allow Network institutions to showcase distinctive, signature projects, institutes, or curricula that highlight the Christian or church-related characteristics of their schools.