Issue date: 9/24/08 Section: News

Author Firoozeh Dumas uses humor in her memoir to trace her experiences as an Iranian immigrant to the U.S. [Click to enlarge]

Sacramento State's One Book program is designed to bring the campus community together by integrating a single book across the curriculum each semester. Firoozeh Dumas' "Funny in Farsi, A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America" is the book chosen to do just that this semester.

Sheila Macias, the Administrative Director for the Community Engagement Center at Sac State said they looked at three different books and after consulting with other schools, Dumas' book was picked for the One Book program. Macias said the book was chosen because it explores diversity. Meyer said she thought the book was well written and would appeal to a wide audience.

In the book, Dumas uses humor to explore her life and find her identity as an Iranian immigrant to the United States. Dumas came to California at the age of seven with her family. After a couple of years her family moved back to Iran, returning to California permanently two years later.

Macias said the One Book program is designed to promote literacy and offers students, and community members alike, the opportunity to share in a reading experience.

Sheree Meyer, faculty coordinator for Sac State's One Book program and chair of the English department, said the feedback coming in from staff is that the book is circulating not only on campus, but also among family members. Meyer met some parents at freshman orientation where she discussed the One Book program. Meyer said the faculty was encouraged to try the One Book program and include activities around it. To do this they were given a number of small faculty grants.

"In particular, part of the grant was to fund a gift of the One Book to all entering first year students," Meyer said. "So every first-year student that attended orientation got a copy of the book."

Meyer said the idea is to get faculty to integrate the One Book program into the classroom. The book has been incorporated as part of the curriculum this semester in a number of classes.

"I have added the One Book program to my extracurricular activities for the students," said Mimi Coughlin, professor of education. "The purpose of the program is get students connected to the bigger picture,"

Linda Martin, lecturer in communication studies, has assigned the book for her classes to read.

"The idea of One Book is adding a layer of commonality among the students," Martin said.

Readers can chat with each other about the book on the Community Engagement Center's One Book website at csus.edu/onebook.

The author, Dumas, will be at Sac State on Oct. 15 for a luncheon and book signing.

Meyer feels that Dumas will be more than just a figure on stage; she will be able to interact with the students and the community.

In addition to Dumas' visit to campus, a number of programs and events have been planned to support the program. Sac State's Multi-Cultural Center is running a series titled "Who is American?": An American Immigrants Film Series. The center will be showing six films through November that illustrate the immigrant experience in America. Other events include lectures on Iranian history and culture and the state of U.S.-Iranian relations. The university will also be hosting an art exhibit based on the book and a concert of classical Persian music.

Meyer said the opportunity to add One Book to the campus began last year when California Lectures, a Sacramento based author series, brought Wangari Maathai, a 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner, to campus. Meyer introduced Maathai to President Alexander Gonzalez. Because Maathai's appearance at Sac State was so successful, Gonzalez thought it would be a good idea to have similar speakers come to Sac State, Meyer said.

That is when Meyer approached Gonzalez with the idea of joining the One Book Program. In less than a month, Gonzalez had Meyer draw up a grant proposal for the Wells Fargo Foundation. In January 2008 the foundation donated $100,000 to Sac State for the One Book program.

Myer and Macias said there is a new book selection committee that is developing criteria to select a book for the spring semester. The committee is made up of students, staff, faculty and the community memebers. The commitee will be meeting in October to come up with a short list of books to choose from.

Sally King can be reached at sking@statehornet.com

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