Library Resources

The Champlain College Library at the Miller Information Commons (MIC) has many more materials related to "What is the What." Come by the MIC to find more!

The Novel:

What is the what: a novel by Dave Eggers. San Francisco : McSweeney's, c2006.

Find it at the MIC: Main Stacks, Ground Level, Call #: PS3605.G48 W43 2006

Sudan:

• Sudan: the Land and the People. Photography by Michael Freeman ; essays by Timothy Carney and Victoria Butler. Seattle: Univ. of Washington Press, 2005.

  Find it at the MIC: Oversize, Ground Level, Call #: DT154.67 .F74 2005

  Magnificent, stunning, informative, and profound. This photography book shows what makes Sudan so special and the crisis there so devastating. The photos introduce us to the variety of the Sudanese landscape, the color and texture of its people, and the richness of its culture. Incredible!

• The Root Causes of Sudan's Civil Wars by Douglas H. Johnson. Updated edition. Bloomington, IN: Indiana UP, 2006.

  Find it at the MIC: Main Stacks, Ground Level, Call #: DT157.67 .J64 2003

  Constructs a historical framework from which to understand the current situation in Sudan and the West's varying levels of interest in Sudan's continued conflict. Johnson highlights the economic impact of relief efforts and outlines various propositions for peace and reconstruction.

• Sudan: the Elusive Quest for Peace by Ruth Iyob and Gilbert M. Khadiagala. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2006.

  Find it at the MIC: Main Stacks, Ground Level, Call #: DT 157.652 .I94 2006

  Explores the complexities of achieving peace in Sudan, emphasizing the challenges geography plays in creating unity and community cohesion since Sudan's independence. Analyzes the regional and international handling of conflicts in southern Sudan and Darfur.

• Darfur: a Short History of a Long War by Julie Flint & Alex De Waal. London: Zed Books, 2006.

  Find it at the MIC: Main Stacks, Ground Level, Call #: DT157.673 .F58 2005

  Emphasizing the crisis in Sudan's westernmost, and most frequently highlighted region, Darfur, this book brings the people, the government, the radicals, and the rebels of Darfur into focus amidst famine, poverty, conflict, and genocide. Includes a timeline of major events in the conflict.

• War and Slavery in Sudan by Jok Madut Jok. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001.

  Find it at the MIC: Main Stacks, Ground Level, Call #: HT1381 .J65 2001

  The contemporary slave trade is alive and well in Sudan, often supported and encouraged by the Khartoum government. Jok, a Dinka, examines the current state of slavery through a historical, cultural and ethnic lens.

Genocide

• Why Not Kill Them All: The Logic and Prevention of Mass Political Murder by Daniel Chirot and Clark McCauley. Princeton: Princeton UP, 2006.

  Find it at the MIC: Main Stacks, Ground Level, Call #: HV 6322.7 .C47 2006

  To understand the causes of genocide, the authors suggest we must understand human nature. This book discusses the human capacity for evil but also the human capacity for resolution.

• What is Genocide? by Martin Shaw. Cambridge, U.K. : Polity Press, 2007.

  Find it at the MIC: Main Stacks, Ground Level, Call #: HV6322.7 .S53 2007

  According to Webster's dictionary, genocide is "The systematic and planned extermination of an entire national, racial, political, or ethnic group." To Shaw, genocide is a focused attack by the armed on the unarmed. Shaw's book discusses the different conceptions of genocide throughout historical and political situations and tries to understand less the intentions of perpetrators and more the structure of conflicts where destruction of a population becomes a solution.

• Genocide, War, and Human Survival edited by Charles B. Strozier & Michael Flynn. Lanham, Md. : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, c1996.

  Find it at the MIC: Main Stacks, Ground Level, Call #: HV6322.7 .G33

  A collection of essays investigating genocide, violence and survival. Especially interesting is the discussion of the variety of responses to genocide, "from complicit bystanding to numbed withdrawl." This book emphasizes our obligations to act responsibility in a world of violence.

• Genocide and Human Rights: a Philosophical Guide edited by John K. Roth. New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2005.

  Find it at the MIC: Main Stacks, Ground Level, Call #: HV6322.7 .G453 2005

  Twenty five contemporary philosophers discuss the array of questions about humanity, rights, justice, and reality that genocide raises. Using a variety of approaches, these philosophers show how philosophy can and should respond to genocide, particularly in ways that defend human rights.

• How to Prevent Genocide: a Guide for Policymakers, Scholars, and Concerned Citizens by John F. Heidenrich. Westport, Conn. : Praeger, 2001.

  Find it at the MIC: Main Stacks, Ground Level, Call #: HV 6322.7 .H46

  Outlines some practical aspects of genocide prevention from a variety of standpoints: international law, humanitarian intervention, economic pressure, diplomacy, and nonviolent resistance.

• "A Problem From Hell" America and the Age of Genocide by Samantha Power. New York: Basic Books, 2002.

  Find it at the MIC: Main Stacks, Ground Level, Call #: HV 6322.7 .P88

• Posing the haunting question: if our leaders vow ‘never again,' why do they repeatedly fail to stop genocide? The author answers this question by highlighting the individuals who devote their careers and lives to get the United States to act.

  Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity edited by Dinah Shelton. Three volumes. Detroit : Macmillan Reference, c2005.

  Find it at the MIC: Reference, Main Level, Call #: HV 6322.7 .E532 2005

  Find out more specifics or familiarize yourself with the basic information with this comphrehensive reference source.

Refugee Experience

• The Lost Boys of Sudan: an American Story of the Refugee Experience by Mark Bixler. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 2005.

  Find it at the MIC: Main Stacks, Ground Level, Call #: HV 640.4 .S73 B59 2005

  Focusing on four Lost Boys relocated in Atlanta, much like our protagonist, this book follows these refugees as they come to a new country that is filled with new experiences and face the challenges of coming to a new country that is filled with expectations, technology, and prejudices. Discusses U.S. refugee policy, international humanitarian aid, and the xenophobia in the post 9/11 world.

• This Place Will Become Home: Refugee Repatriation to Ethiopia by Laura C. Hammond. Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP, 2004.

  Find it at the MIC: Main Stacks, Ground Level, Call #: HV 640.4 .E77 H36 2004

  Deals with the creation of a community, a "home", by Sudanese refugees in the Tigray province of Ethiopia. Authorities transported the refugees to Tigray, telling them they were "returning home," despite their never having been there before. This is the story of their effort to turn a strange place into their own home.

• Refugee Women by Susan Forbes Martin. 2nd edition. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2004.

  Find it at the MIC: Main Stacks, Ground Level, Call #: HV 640 .M34 2004

  While "What is the What" focuses on the boys who fled Sudan, this book focuses on the particular issues that women and girls face as refugees.

• Rooms in the House of Stone by Michael Dorris. Minneapolis: Milkweed Editions, 1993.

  Find it at the MIC: Main Stacks, Ground Level, Call #: HV 640.4 .Z55 D67

  Michael Dorris' collection of essays forces readers to see, as he did, the desperate situations of those in refugee camps. Although Dorris visits Zimbabwe, his reflections and call to action transcends location or ethnicity and demands that we each consider our moral obligation to helping those less fortunate than ourselves.

Child Soldiers

• Children at War by P.W. Singer. New York: Pantheon, 2005.

  Find it at the MIC: Main Stacks, Ground Level, Call #: UB 416 .S56 2005

  As shocking and disturbing as it may be, using children as soldiers is a growing and global phenomenon. In this thorough examination of how and why children are armed, Singer points out how even children can become ruthless killers, how their need for belonging and survival is exploited, and how rehabilitation can make these child soldiers back into children.

• A long way gone : memoirs of a boy soldier by Ishmael Beah. New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007.

  Find it at the MIC: Main Stacks, Ground Level, Call #: DT516.828.B43 A3 2007

  Beah's memoir of his life as a child soldier in Sierra Leone was described in the New York Times Book Review as "perhaps the first time that a child soldier has been able to give literary voice to one of the most distressing phenomena of the late 20th century." Recalling both the horror and the hope and kindness instilled in him from his rescuers, Beah's memoir gives us a personal view into an unimaginable situation.

• Armies of the Young: Child Soliders in War and Terrorism by David W. Rosen. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers UP, 2005.

  Find it at the MIC: Main Stacks, Ground Level, Call #:

  Examines a difficult side of understanding child soldiers: children who want to fight. Often portrayed as "passive victims," this book argues that many child soldiers make the rational decision that fighting is a better decision than not fighting. How do they come to this conclusion? What forces, if any, coerce them to make such choices? Focusing on contemporary child soldiers in Africa and the Middle East to understanding their historical counterparts from World War II, this book paints a different and difficult picture of these unsuspecting militants.

• No Refuge: the Crisis of Refugee Militarization in Africa edited by Robert Muggah. London: Zed Books, 2006.

  Find it at the MIC: Main Stacks, Ground Level, Call #:

  Rather than focusing solely on the arming of children, this study discusses the arming of refugees of all ages. Refugee's armament threatens their access to asylum, protection, and aid. Why do refugees continue to join military forces despite these implications? With case studies from around Africa, this book tries to detangle the historical, political, and personal aspects of refugee's continued participation in militarization.

Religion

• A history of the church in Africa by Bendt Sundkler. Cambridge, U.K.; New York: Cambridge UP, 2000.

  Find it at the MIC: Ebook, Available online thru Library Catalog, Call #: BR1360 .S86 2000eb

  This comprehensive volume on the history of Christianity in all regions of Africa includes a chapter on Sudan that uncovers the historical and contemporary state of the Church in the region and therefore also an insight into geographic, political, and economic states of Sudan. The chapter also gives characterizations of tribal culture.

• A history of Christianity in Africa : from antiquity to the present by Elizabeth Isichei. Grand Rapids, Mich. : W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co. ; Lawrenceville, N.J. : Africa World Press, 1995.

  Find it at the MIC: Main Stacks, Ground Level, Call #: BR1360 .I8

  While contextualizing the increasing number of Christians in Africa, this book also explains and examines the different types of Christianity in modern Africa and the enormous social and cultural influences that have shaped the Christianity of Africa today.

• The History of Islam in Africa edited by Nehemia Levtzion & Randall L. Pouwels. Athens : Ohio University Press, 2000.

  Find it at the MIC: Main Stacks, Ground Level, Call #: BP64.A1 H67

  With an entire section of this authoritative and comprehensive volume devoted to Sudan, this is an indispensable tool to understanding the history, role, implications, and state of Islam in Sudan and the surrounding regions. Other chapters discuss Islamic law, Islamic education, and the condition of Muslim women in Africa.

Hunger

• Who's Hungry? And How Do We Know? Food Shortage, Poverty, and Deprivation by Laurie DeRose, et al. New York: United Nations UP, 1998.

  Find it at the MIC: Ebook, Available online thru Library Catalog, Call #: HC79.P6 D47 1998eb

  The authors believe that to understand hunger, we need to understand who is affected and how. This book explains food shortages, food poverty, and food deprivation and discusses the ways food is distributed in common and crisis situations. Sections are devoted to the effects of conflict and drought have been in Sudan as well as the role relief aid has played in the region.

• The state of food insecurity in the world 2001: when people live with hunger and fear starvation. Rome ; [Great Britain] : Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2001.

  Find it at the MIC: Ebook, Available online thru Library Catalog, Call #: HD9018.D44 S73 2001eb

  This report, issued through the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, examines global efforts to halve the number of undernourished people in the world by 2015. The report answers the following questions: who are the food insecure? Where are they located? Why are the food insecure. Charts and data refer directly to Sudan and contextualize that country's struggles against other areas of Africa and the world.