Through a campus-wide online vote, Santa Monica College students, faculty, and staff, chose the 2011-2012 Global Citizenship theme.
The Global Citizenship Theme for 2011-12 is Health, Wellness, and the Pursuit of Happiness
View a report on the results of the vote.
Here is how we have initially set up our theme:
Health is a centerpiece of the United Nationsʼ efforts to promote human development, and modern society has made profound strides in fighting infectious disease and raising life expectancies around the world. Yet we still find the provision of care and the promotion of healthy living to be a perennial challenge, one that knows no boundaries but nonetheless reveals gaping inequities within and between countries worldwide. Moreover, even when physically healthy, we struggle to feel truly well; despite living (on average) longer and more comfortable lives than countless generations of human beings before us, a true sense of happiness and well-being often eludes us. What does it mean to be healthy? What does it mean to be happy? And how can we get there?
Recommended Reading
The following is the initial, preliminary list developed during the theme-selection process. A more complete bibliography can be found at our Goodreads site.
- Douglas Adams, The Hitchhikerʼs Guide to the Galaxy
- Edith Beer, The Nazi Officerʼs Wife: How One Jewish Woman Survived the Holocaust
- Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights
- Cupcake Brown, A Piece of Cake: A Memoir
- Dan Buettner, Thrive: Finding Happiness the Blue Zones Way
- Rhonda Byrne, The Secret
- Deepak Chopra, Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul: How to Create a New You
- Victor Davich, 8 Minute Meditation: Quiet Your Mind. Change Your Life
- Michel de Montaigne, The Complete Essays
- Katherine Dunn, Geek Love: A Novel
- Rob Faigin, Natural Hormonal Enhancement
- Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love
- Thich Nhat Hanh, The Art of Power
- Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha
- Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner
- Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
- Robert Kaplan, Balkan Ghosts: A Journey through History
- Dalai Lama, The Art of Happiness
- Joseph Murphy, The Power of Your Subconscious Mind
- Chuck Palahniuk, Invisible Monsters
- Robert Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values
- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged
- Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead
- T.R. Reid, The Healing of America
- Luis Rodriguez, Always Running: La Vida Loca, Gang Days in L.A.
- Miguel Ruiz, The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom
- Miguel Ruiz, The Fifth Agreement: A Practical Guide to Self-Mastery
- Sharon Salzberg, Real Happiness: The Power of Meditation
- Eric Schlosser, Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal
- Irwin Sherman, The Twelve: Diseases That Changed Our World and the Lesson They Teach
- Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Lifeʼs Purpose
- Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
- Eric Weiner, Geography of Bliss
- Lin Yutang, The Importance of Living
- The Holy Bible
- The Quran
Recommended Films
- Across the Universe (2007)
- The Adjustment Bureau (2011)
- All That Jazz (1979)
- Babies (2010)
- The Beautiful Truth (2008)
- Black Orpheus (1959)
- The Constant Gardner (2005)
- Dirt! The Movie (2009)
- Eat Pray and Love (2010)
- Fast Food Nation (2006)
- Food, Inc. (2008)
- The Handmaidʼs Tale (1990)
- I Heart Huckabees (2004)
- Inside Job (2010)
- The Living Matrix (2009)
- Outbreak (1995)
- The Princess Bride (1987)
- The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
- The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
- Sick Around the World (2008)
- Super Size Me (2004)
- Waste Land (2010)