Scheduled Conversations, Jan. 2019 to Feb. 2020
January 2019
February 2019
March 2019—Break
April 2019
May 2019
June 2019—Break
July 2019
August 2019—Break
September 2019
October 2019
November 2019
Dec. 2019—Break
January 2020
February 2020
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January 2019: Democracy in America (U. of Chicago, ed. Mansfield), by Alexis de Tocqueville (722 pages). Thurs., Jan. 17, 2019 (7pm-8:30pm). with a focus on the following selections: pp. 3-15, 27-65, 82.3- 98.1, 149b-161, 165-170, 187-190.1 pp. 217.1-258.1 pp. 264.5-302.2, 379.2-390, 395.3-396, 403-410, 417-424.1, 426.5-428.4, 469.5-472.4, 479-484, 485.4-492, 496-509, 511.3-517t, 526.5-532, 535-539.4 pp. 587.2-604.5, 606.2-617.1, 639-643.1, 661-676 February 2019: 2019 Legislative Budget Board (LBB) Staff Report (under “Performance Audits and Evaluations”) – Select 3 articles (typically each 6-14 pages single-spaced) to summarize and share with the group, including a summary of the LBB’s key findings, and reasons why this topic is important to you or to Texas. Expect the LBB Staff Report to publish and be posted here in mid to late January 2019: https://www.lbb.state.tx.us/State_Entity_Reviews.aspx. Bonus points for emailing the Houston Citizenship Book Club organizer, Elizabeth, through Meet-up 1 week in advance (by midnight on Thursday, February 21st) with your three selections, so she can publish them to the Meet-up website in case anyone else would like to prepare in advance to have read your same chosen articles. Even more bonus points for proposing/sharing your selected political action around one of the articles or a bill in the session, as applicable -- such as calling a certain congressperson or writing a letter to a certain congressperson, or other peaceful participation in the democratic process. Thursday, February 28, 2019 (7pm-9pm). April 2019: Twitter and Teargas: The Power and Fragility of Networked Protest by Zeynep Tufekci (361 pages) and your own review of the recent data privacy laws coming out of: - the European Union (General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), https://eugdpr.org/the-regulation/) and - California (California Consumer Privacy Act, A.B. 375). Thursday, April 18, 2019 (7pm-9pm). May 2019:
Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic by Sam Quinones (400 pages). Thursday, May 23, 2019 (7pm-8:30pm). July 2019: The Human Condition by Hannah Arendt (372 pages). Thursday, July 18, 2019 (7pm-8:30pm). September 2019:
The Captive Mind by Czesław Miłosz (272 pages). Thursday, September 19 (7pm-8:30pm). October 2019:
Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World by Adam Tooze (720 pages). Thursday, October 17, 2019 (7pm to 8:30pm). November 2019:
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond (434 pages). Thursday, November 28 (7pm-8:30pm). January 2020:
Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life by Eric Klineberg (288 pages). Thursday, January 23, 2020 (7pm-8pm). February 2020: Brother I'm Dying by Edwige Danticat (288 pages). Thursday, February 27, 2020 (7pm-8pm). |
Additional Optional Recommended Reading (throughout the year):
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