What are you reading this summer?

It’s summer, and with this season, there’s a greater opportunity to indulge in some of our favorite pastimes. In this new weekly series for the summer, we ask members of the UDC community to share what they have been doing since the semester ended. This week, we spoke with Dr. Scott T. Krawczyk, associate chief academic officer and professor of English.

What have you been reading this summer?

“‘The Handmaid’s Tale,’ by Margaret Atwood. I finished the Hulu series a while back, making me want to reread the book. Also, Atwood’s dystopic vision feels all too familiar in today’s America—disturbingly so.”

“‘Creatures of Passage,” by Morowa Yejidé. This book was recommended by a faculty member in the General Education program, Frazier O’Leary, who taught it to his composition class in the fall of 2021. With its echoes of Toni Morrison, mysterious, ghostly, and mythological dimensions, and its connections to D.C., especially Anacostia, this book seems perfect for summer reading (and beyond)—perhaps a UDC CAS Reads Big candidate in the future.”

What have you been listening to?

“I am not listening to any podcasts just now, but I regularly listen to/watch “Rick Beato’s Everything Music” YouTube channel. Being a wannabe musician, I find Beato’s knowledge and teaching about musical complexities fascinating. I can listen to a good teacher on just about any topic, so I also listen fairly regularly to lectures from “The Great Courses” offerings, which are now digital and relatively inexpensive.”

From my library of several lecture series, I’ve listened to episodes from the following this summer: “The Surveillance State: Big Data, Freedom, and You;” “Great Ideas of Philosophy;” “Understanding the Old Testament;” and “Utopia and Terror in the 20th Century.”