An Evening with Jabari Asim
This audio is an interview led by Dr. Clarence Lang, Chair of the African & African American Studies Department at the University of Kansas, with Jabari Asim. Asim is an author, Editor-in-Chief of The Crisis Magazine, and Associate Professor of Writing, Literature, and Publishing at Emerson College. In this interview Asim discusses his book, What Obama Means:...for Our Culture, Our Politics, Our Future as well as many other themes related to the KU 2016 Common Book, Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates.
An Interview with Howard Graham
In this podcast Nick Carswell interviews Howard Graham about the selection of the 2016 - 2017 KU Common Book, Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. They discuss how the text challenges readers to delve into difficult conversations that are relevant to discussions happening on our campus and around the nation.
Project HBW on the KU Common Book
Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates's critically acclaimed second book and the winner of 2015 National Book Award for nonfiction has been chosen by the University of Kansas as the 2016-2017 common book. The KU Common Book Program is run by the Office of First Year Experience with the goal of creating a diverse strong community and shared academic experience among first year students, faculty and staff.
A conversation with Dr. Clarence Lang
As part of the 2016 Free State Forum, the ACLU of Kansas brought Leonard Pitts to discuss race and inequality. Kaye McIntyre of KPR sat down with Dr. Clarence Lang, chair of the Department of African and African-American Studies to discuss the way these issues directly affect life in Kansas. Listen here.
What to read next
So you’ve finished Coates’s Between the World and Me and you’re looking for more to read? Or, you’ve not only read his book but also his article, “The Case for Reparations”, and you’re looking for more to read on black experience? What if you’re looking for a black female experience of The Dream?
KU Common Book Reader's Guide
You can check out a .pdf of the University of Kansas Common Book Reader's Guide for Between the World and Me here. This guide includes reflections on the text by faculty, staff, and current students of KU.
Discover the larger context
Encountered something in the text of Between the World and Me that you do not understand or would like to explore further? The Oxford African American Studies Center is a great place to start. Simply go to www.oxfordaasc.com and login using your KU online ID and password. From here you can search anything--names, current or historical events, words, subjects--to gain a greater grasp on the context of any subject.
