U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey

The concept of “home” is being explored this year as part of Georgia Perimeter College’s GPC Reads program featuring U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey.

Trethewey’s work, “Beyond Katrina—A Meditation on the Mississippi Gulf Coast,” is the main selection for the 2013-2014 GPC Reads, a college-wide multidisciplinary program that engages  students in a theme-based reading of a selected author.

“Beyond Katrina,” is a personal reflection of the loss of Trethewey’s childhood home and family amid changes wrought by man and nature. Students are exploring the book’s themes through art, poetry, video, critical analysis and even geology.

A juried student art show exploring Trethewey’s works is part of the event at Clarkston Campus. The show will be housed in the main gallery at the Cole through December.

“Beyond Katrina,” is a rich narrative, powerfully told by Trethewey, says Gina Flowers, a GPC English instructor who has incorporated the book into her curriculum this year. “The themes of family, change, history and home are all represented. GPC students all have special definition or memory of ‘home.’ This book challenges each of us to find a way to keep that memory alive.”

GPC Reads is part of the collegewide Quality Enhancement Plan to encourage student learning and engagement. It has been connected to the college’s National Endowment for the Humanities grant, “Bridging Cultures to Form a Nation: Difference, Community and Democratic Thinking,” co-sponsored by the Association of American Colleges and Universities and The Democracy Commitment.

Since GPC Reads began in 2010, the program has sponsored visits by authors Pat Conroy, Cassandra King, Terry Kay, Sheri Reynolds, William Kamkwamba and Melissa Faye Greene.