Campus Life

Penn State Reads author Russell Gold to speak Oct. 12

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — As the 2015 Penn State class comes together to explore the rise of fracking in the United States, students are invited to meet Wall Street Journal senior energy reporter Russell Gold, author of this year’s Penn State Reads book, “The Boom: How Fracking Ignited the American Energy Revolution and Changed the World.”

“ ‘The Boom’ raises important questions about energy and the power needed to fuel the world,” said Barry Bram, special assistant to the vice president of Student Affairs, who co-chairs the program with Jackie Edmondson, associate vice president and associate dean for Undergraduate Education. “Penn State faculty, staff and students have different perspectives on this issue, and they live in communities directly impacted by the choices made about energy. Penn State Reads provides a shared reading experience to help facilitate conversation, connection and understanding among the University community, and we’re eager to engage a large swath of the University with this topic.”

Gold will speak at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 12, in Alumni Hall in the HUB-Robeson Center. A book signing will follow the lecture. Free tickets will be available to students on Monday, Sept. 28, at all Center for Performing Arts ticket outlets. Faculty, staff and community members can pick up tickets (if available) beginning Wednesday, Oct. 7.

Gold will also participate in a community question and answer session at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 13, at the Days Inn in State College.

Gold, who has been recognized as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and a recipient of the Gerald Loeb Award for his work, has traveled to fracking sites across the country to conduct thousands of interviews with individuals working in and impacted by the fracking industry and sifted through many engineering reports, lawsuit transcripts and financial filings.

Administered by Undergraduate Education and Student Affairs with key partners the University Libraries and the Office for Student Orientation and Transition Programs, the Penn State Reads program runs complementary to Penn State’s New Student Orientation. It supplies each first-year University Park campus student with a copy of the chosen book to provide a shared experience and aims to encourage intellectual engagement within and beyond the classroom, stimulate critical thinking and foster a deeper connection to Penn State’s mission and core values.

Concepts that are introduced at New Student Orientation over the summer are further explored during Welcome Week and beyond into students’ first year at Penn State. Events based upon the book’s themes — including a visit by the author, lectures and film screenings — are planned throughout the 2015 fall and 2016 spring semesters. A list of the events can be found on the Penn State Reads website.

To choose each year’s common text, the Penn State Reads steering committee calls for University community members to nominate books. Once the nominations are narrowed to a short list, volunteers are asked to read the final selections and complete short surveys on their impressions of the books to be used in the final book selection. Any member of the Penn State community can nominate a book by emailing pennstatereads@psu.edu.

Last Updated May 12, 2016