Summer reads

by Mines Magazine | Jul 11, 2018 | Alumni Network, Summer 2018 | 0 comments

The Leadership in Social Responsibility Interest Group recently started a new book club as a way to continue learning how engineers are engaging with the social aspects of their work, reviewing examples of successes and failures and what can be learned from both. The book club meets four times a year in person with an option to attend virtually so alumni across the globe can join the discussion. Between meetings, the group recommends adding the following titles to your summer reading list.

Citizen Engineer: A Handbook for Socially Responsible Engineering

by David Douglas, Greg Papadopoulos and John Boutelle (Prentice Hall, 2010)

A handbook and manifesto for engineers that shows how building more techno-responsible and eco-efficient products can translate to higher profits for businesses and an accelerated career path for engineers.

The White Man’s Burden: Why the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good

by William Easterly (Penguin Books, 2006)

In an indictment of economic policies for the world’s poor, Easterly argues the West needs to face its history of ineptitude when the question of transplanting Western ideals has become a pressing issue.

Start Something That Matters

by Blake Mycoskie (Spiegel & Grau, 2011)

Mycoskie tells the story of TOMS, one of the fastest-growing shoe companies in the world, and combines it with lessons learned from other innovative organizations and six simple keys for creating or transforming your own life and business.

Out of Poverty: What Works When Traditional Approaches Fail

by Paul Polak (Berrett-Koehler, 2008)

Polak tells why traditional poverty eradication programs have fallen so short and how he and his organization developed an alternative approach that has succeeded in lifting 17 million people out of poverty.

Everybody Loves a Good Drought: Stories from India’s Poorest Districts

by P. Sainath (Headline Review, 1996)

Sainath presents his research findings of poverty in the rural districts of India. He describes how the poor live, what sustains them and the often-ludicrous efforts to do something for them.

Mining Coal and Undermining Gender: Rhythms of Work and Family in the American West

by Jessica Smith Rolston (Rutgers University Press, 2014)

This book investigates gender and mining from the perspective of Wyoming’s Powder River Basin, offering a view of the working “families” miners construct where gender roles are not nearly straightforward as stereotypes might suggest.

We also asked around campus for other book recommendations. Check out more books below.