For the past five years at the ABA Conference, the “What I’m Reading” panel has given us an opportunity to talk about what inspires ADR scholars and practitioners. Two weeks ago, we had a fabulous (and musical!) panel and several people asked if I would post the reading list from the session. Here it is:
- Michael Z. Green (Texas A&M): David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants (2013), by Malcolm Gladwell; The Wisest One in the Room: How You Can Benefit from Social Psychology’s Most Powerful Insights (2016), by Thomas Gilovich and Lee Ross
- Rebecca Hollander-Blumoff (Washington University): Commonwealth (2016), by Ann Patchett
- Rachel Viscomi (Harvard): Snow Leopard (1978), by Peter Matthiessen;
- Sheila Purcell (Hastings): “Stress in America: Coping with Change” (2017), by the American Psychological Association
- Noam Ebner (Creighton): “The Times, They Are A-Changing’” (1963) and “Blowin’ in the Wind” (1962), by Bob Dylan
I also provided the text of a poem by Wallace Stevens, “Of Mere Being” (1967). This particular poem helps me think about the limits of my own consciousness and capabilities in a way that’s not depressing but instead beautiful.
Our former wonderful panelists and what they shared:
2016
Michael Colatrella (Pacific McGeorge): Five Came Back (2014), by Mark Harris
Cathy Costantino (Georgetown): The Language of Flowers (2011) and We Never Asked for Wings (2015), both by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
Amy Glass (Michigan Mediation & Arbitration Services): Escape from Freedom (1941), by Erich Fromm
Rebecca Hollander-Blumoff (Washington University): Life After Life (2013), by Kate Atkinson; The Autonomy Myth (2004), by Martha Fineman
Nora Ludviksen (The Table Mediation): Outline: A Novel (2014), by Rachel Cusk
Jen Reynolds (Oregon): “Forgetfulness” (2016), by Michael Hofmann
2015
Ron Aronovsky (Richard Linklater, Boyhood; Robert Caro, The Years of Lyndon Johnson: The Passage to Power);
Rebecca Hollander-Blumoff (Leslie Jamison, The Empathy Exams; Anthony Doerr, All the Light We Cannot See);
Michael Moffitt (Matthew Crawford, Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work);
Richard Reuben (Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs);
Jen Reynolds (Henry David Thoreau, Walden).
2014
Cynthia Alkon (William Dalrymple, Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India);
Rebecca Hollander-Blumoff (Donna Tartt, The Goldfinch);
Andrea Kupfer-Schneider (Tina Rosenberg, Join the Club: How Peer Pressure Can Transform the World);
Lela Love (Edwin Arlington Robinson, “Richard Cory”);
Bernie Mayer (Jonathan Lethem, Dissident Gardens);
Jen Reynolds (W.B. Yeats, “Song of Wandering Aengus”; Veronica Roth, Divergent).
2013
Jen Brown (Brene Brown, Daring Greatly);
Jonathan Cohen (Pete Seeger, “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?”);
Rebecca Hollander-Blumoff (Ann Patchett, Bel Canto);
Jen Reynolds (C.P. Cavafy, “Expecting the Barbarians”).
If you would like to participate in next year’s What I’m Reading panel, please let me know! Any kind of inspiration works — books, music, poetry, movies, television, artwork, whatever captivates and reinvigorates you.
