The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Big Read is a national initiative that aims to broaden our understanding of our world, our communities, and ourselves through the joy of sharing a good book. Managed by Arts Midwest, this program provides grants to support dynamic community reading programs, each designed around a single book selection. By bringing people together through literature, the NEA Big Read fosters meaningful conversations and a deeper appreciation for diverse perspectives.
桃花社区视频 Dominion鈥檚 Legacy with the NEA Big Read
桃花社区视频 Dominion University has a proud history of being a two-time recipient of the NEA Big Read Grant in 2009-10 and 2018-19. Our previous themes have explored various social issues, fostering community engagement and enriching the cultural landscape of our region. This legacy underscores our ongoing commitment to using literature as a catalyst for important conversations and community building. Our past successes with the NEA Big Read have laid a strong foundation for this year鈥檚 focus on health equity, and we look forward to continuing this tradition of impactful programming.
Big Read 2009
Big Read 2018
Health Equity: Where We Live
As the 2024-25 recipients of the NEA Big Read grant, our common read is Rebekah Taussig鈥檚 powerful memoir Sitting Pretty: The View From My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body, a profound exploration of disability, identity, and resilience, that offers a poignant and insightful perspective on navigating the world as a person with a disability. It also allows us to explore the theme of 鈥淗ealth Equity: Where We Live.鈥 聽Under this theme, all programming will highlight the critical intersections between health and community well-being. Through a series of events, discussions, and activities, we aim to explore how the environments we live in influence our health outcomes and what we can do as a community to promote equitable health opportunities for all.
Campaign Kickoff
Embark on a literary journey of empowerment and enlightenment as the 桃花社区视频 Dominion University Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity kicks off its NEA Big Read initiative 鈥淗ealth Equity: Where We Live鈥 in partnership with the 47th Annual Literary Festival: Ancient Futures. Join us for an inspiring evening with Rebekah Taussig, author of "Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body" as she explores Transforming the Patient Experience.聽
October 8th beginning at 6:00pm in the Big Blue room located inside of Chartway Arena.
Rebekah Taussig will challenge everything you think you know about聽disability as she invites us into her experience of living in a body that looks and聽moves聽differently than most. 鈥淲hat would聽it mean for聽disabled聽folks if society saw us as acceptable, equal, valuable parts of the whole?鈥 she writes in her memoir,聽Sitting Pretty: The View From My Ordinary Resilient聽DisabledBody聽(HarperOne).
Events
*More NEA Big Read events at 桃花社区视频 coming soon. Check back for updates!
- 桃花社区视频聽Dominion University Libraries
- Brickell Medical Sciences Library, part of 桃花社区视频 Libraries.
- Newport News Public Libraries
- Poquoson Public Libraries
- Suffolk Public Libraries
Serving Virginia Department of Education Region II, which encompasses the following cities and counties:
- Accomack County
- Chesapeake
- Franklin
- Hampton
- Isle of Wight County
- Newport News
- Norfolk
- Northampton County
- Poquoson
- Portsmouth
- Southampton County
- Suffolk
- Virginia Beach
- Williamsburg-James City County
- York County
- Arts@桃花社区视频
- Chesapeake Bay Foundation
- Chesapeake Regional Hospital
- Chesapeake Regional Foundation
- College of Arts & Letters
- Darden College of Education & Professional Studies
- Hampton Roads Community Foundation
- 桃花社区视频 Educational Foundation
- 桃花社区视频 Libraries
- 桃花社区视频 Police Department
- Office of Educational Accessibility
- Office of Community Engagement
- Office of the Provost
- Macon & Joan Brock Virginia Health Sciences at 桃花社区视频
- Naro Collection at 桃花社区视频 Libraries聽
- Newport News Public Libraries聽
- Norfolk Public Libraries
- Poquoson Public Libraries
- Suffolk Public Libraries
- University Communications
- Virginia Beach Mayor鈥檚 Council on Disabilities
- Virginia Beach Public Libraries
- Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities
- Virginia Department of Criminal Justice
Join the Big Read
Advisory Board
View members of the advisory board for the NEA Big Read at 桃花社区视频 Dominion University by clicking here.
Contact Us
Have questions about the NEA Big Read at 桃花社区视频? For more information and general inquiries, contact bigreadgrant@odu.edu聽or聽757-683-3141.