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RESOURCES
Student Assignment
Links to Other Programs
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Partners in Health
Haiti
BIOGRAPHIES
Tracy Kidder
Dr. Paul Farmer
ABOUT THE BOOK
Book Reviews
Discussion Questions & Study Guides
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MOUNTAINS BEYOND MOUNTAINS
by Tracy Kidder
Student Assignment
Welcome to the Common Reading eXperience!
Xavier University is launching the Common Reading eXperience, 2008, with the book Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder. All incoming Freshmen will receive a copy of the book at PREP. During the summer, students will read the book and respond in writing via “The Road to Xavier” web page. During orientation students will have an opportunity to discuss their reactions to the book with Xavier faculty, who will have read the writing assignments submitted electronically.
For this very first Xavier assignment, Xavier students should submit an essay of two pages, double-spaced (about 500 words) on ONE of the following two topics:
The title of the book comes from the Haitian proverb “Beyond mountains there are mountains.” What does the saying mean in the context of the Haitian culture, and what does it mean in relation to Farmer’s work? Can you think of other personal or societal situations for which this proverb might be apt?
- Paul Farmer had an eccentric childhood and his accomplishments have been unique. Do you see a correlation between the way Farmer was raised and how he’s chosen to live his life? How has your own background influenced your life and your decisions?
When the essays are received, they will be submitted to TurnItIn, a plagiarism prevention web site. This is in keeping with the process used in most Xavier writing assignments.
The deadline for submission of the writing assignment is August 4, 2008.
Xavier is pleased to offer this new experience to the Class of 2012!
Book Reviews
Hirschel, Bernard. (2003). Mountains beyond mountains. [Review of the book Mountains beyond mountains]. New England Journal of Medicine, 349(19), 1877. Retrieved April 14, 2008, from ProQuest Nursing & Allied Health Source database.
Tepe, Melissa. (2005). Mountains beyond mountains: Healing the world: The quest of Dr. Paul Farmer. [Review of the book Mountains beyond mountains]. Einstein Journal of Biology & Medicine, 21(2), 95-96. Retrieved April 14, 2008, from Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition database.
Lysaught, M. Therese. (2005). The good doctor. [Review of the book Mountains beyond mountains]. Commonweal, 132(3), 28-29. Retrieved April 14, 2008, from Academic Search Complete database.
Information About Partners in Health
Partners in Health (PIH) was established in 1987 to serve the poor in Haiti's mountainous Central Plateau. Over the past twenty years, PIH has expanded to include eight additional areas in Haiti and five additional countries. PIH enjoys a close relationship with and is located near the campuses of Harvard Medical School,
Harvard School of Public Health, Brigham& Women's Hospital and Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. For more information see the following webpages:
Information About Haiti
Katel, Peter. (2005). Haiti's dilemma. CQ Researcher, 15(7), 149-172. Retrieved April 14, 2008, from CQ Researcher Online database.
Scott, Helen. (2003, April). The uses and abuses of Haiti: Helen Scott interviews Paul Farmer. Internationalist Socialist Review. Retrieved April 14, 2008, from Third World Traveler website.

Farmer, Paul. (2003, September 15). Haitian refugees, sovereignty and globalization. America: The National Catholic Weekly. Retrieved April 14, 2008 from America website.
CultureGrams. (2008). HaitiCultureGrams World Edition. Retrieved April 14, 2008, from CultureGrams database.
Information About Tracy Kidder
BookBrowse. (2003). A conversation with Tracy Kidder, author of Mountains beyond mountains [interview and biography]. Retrieved April 14, 2008, from BookBrowse website.
National Public Radio. (2003). The quest of Dr. Paul Farmer [audio interview of Tracy Kidder and excerpt from book]. Retrieved April 14, 2008, from NPR website.
Books by Paul Farmer
Farmer, Paul. (2003). Pathologies of power: Health, human rights, and the new war on the poor. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Call number: HM821 .F37 2005; Electronic book
Farmer, Paul. (1999). Infections and inequalities: The modern plagues . Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Call number: RA418.5.P6 F37 2001
Information About Paul Farmer
Department of Social Medicine. Faculty: Paul Farmer, MD, PhD. Retrieved April 14, 2008, from Harvard Medical School website.
Heinz Awards. (2003). Human condition: Paul Farmer [includes video of acceptance speech]. Retrieved April 14, 2008, from Heinz Awards website.
Brigham & Women's Hospital. (2003). Social medicine and health inequalities. Retrieved April 14, 2008, from Brigham & Women's Hospital website.
Elmer-DeWitt, Philip. (2005). Champion of the poor. Time, 166(19), 79-83. Retrieved April 14, 2008, from Academic Search Complete database.
English, Bella. (2008). In Rwanda, visionary doctor is moving mountains again [reformatted from the Boston globe]. Retrieved May 21, 2008, from boston.com.
Judd, Jackie. (2006). Interview with Dr. Paul Farmer [includes podcast, audio, transcript and biography]. Retrieved April 14, 2008, from Kaisernetwork.org website.
Questions for Discussion and Study Guides
Sparke, Matthew (Ed.). (2006). Meanings beyond mountains: A glossary of terms from the work of Paul Farmer. Retrieved April 14, 2008, from University of Washington Common Book website.
Sarasota County Libraries. (2003). One Book: One Community: Book Discussion Tool Kit. Retrieved April 14, 2008, from Sarasota County Libraries website.
Links to Other Common Reading Programs
Colleges & Universities using Mountains Beyond Mountains
- Augustana College (Rock Island, IL)
Baruch College, CUNY (New York, NY)
- California State University, Chico (Chico, CA)
- Carleton College (Northfield, MN)
- Catawba College (Salisbury, NC)
- Fort Lewis College (Durango, CO)
- Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, IL)
- Lenoir-Rhyne College (Hickory, NC)
- New Mexico State University (Las Cruces, NM)
- Pellissippi State Technical Community College (Knoxville, TN)
- St. Ambrose University (Davenport, IA)
- San Diego State University (San Diego, CA)
- Skidmore College (Saratoga Springs, NY)
- Syracuse University (Syracuse, NY)
- University of Florida (Gainesville, FL)
Colleges & universities using other books
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