A former Cornell College professor will return to campus to speak at the Opening Convocation on Sept. 16 at 11 a.m. about “Persepolis 2,” this year’s selection for the One Book, One Campus, One Community program.
Mehrdad Kia, Professor of anthropology and history and Associate Provost for International Programs at the University of Montana, and formerly a professor at Cornell College, will speak about Persepolis 2 by Marjane Satrapi, this year’s One Book, One Campus, One Community selection. The book, a memoir that takes the form of a graphic novel, follows the author as she returns to her home country of Iran a few years after the 1979 revolution and confronts the changes both she and the country have undergone.
The convocation will take place in Kimmel Theatre on Cornell’s campus, with overflow seating available in classrooms in adjoining Armstrong Hall.
Kia’s lecture will focus on the themes found in Persepolis 2, as well as his own experiences moving from Tehran to Chicago as a young adult and attending college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
In its third year, Cornell celebrates the One Book, One Campus, One Community program as anopportunity to instill in our students a love of reading and a love of learning. First-year students are provided with a copy of the One Book selection and are invited, along with all of the campus and community, to participate in events, including Opening Convocation, book discussions, and creative programs, tied to the themes of the book. Previous books have been The Zookeeper’s Wife by Diane Ackerman (2009) and The Horizontal World: Growing Up Wild in the Middle of Nowhere by Debra Marquart (2008).