PIRATE READ
2020 reading selection alerts to the need for empathy
With a global pandemic and racial discord across the country – not to mention a presidential campaign under way – “The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World” by Jamil Zaki comes at a fitting time as this summer’s Pirate Read selection.
That’s the view of East Carolina University faculty and staff members who chose it.
“As a committee we discussed the timing of elections in the fall working well with ‘The War for Kindness,’” said Tracy Morse, an assistant professor of English who co-chaired the Pirate Read committee. “And now, when we are witnessing demonstrations for justice and overt action to acknowledge Black Lives Matter and to do a better job of listening to people of color and learning from their knowledge and experiences, Zaki reminds us that we can improve. We can do specific things to strengthen our empathy. We can become more kind.”
All incoming students are asked to read the book before the beginning of their first semester. Published last year by Crown, the book has been called “lucid, stimulating” by The American Scholar. “ . . . [The War for Kindness aims] to challenge antiquated views of the brain and human behavior. . . . Zaki issues a call for concerted action to build empathy in a world he sees as fractured and threatened by escalating tribalism, cruelty and isolation.”
Jamil Zaki, the author, is a professor of psychology at Stanford University and the director of the Stanford Social Neuroscience Laboratory. (Contributed photo)
Zaki is a professor of psychology at Stanford University and the director of the Stanford Social Neuroscience Laboratory. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Yorker and The Atlantic.
Instructors across the university are encouraged to integrate the book or parts of it into their classes. “In English 1100 Foundations of College Writing, we often ask students to do collaborative presentations on the Pirate Read,” said Morse, who is director of writing foundations. “Students find contextual information around topics and issues raised in the book to elaborate on those issues. ENGL 1100 students then often write a persuasive essay that is a continuing of a conversation that starts with the Pirate Read.”
Morse said she found the book timely when she read it last year and even more so now. “To consider that empathy is beyond an emotional response, we are able to make connections with others and come closer to understanding the experiences and perspectives of others,” she said. “I appreciate that Zaki encourages us to practice empathy in order to strengthen that aspect of our humanity.
“I suppose there will be people who do not buy in to Zaki’s argument,” she added. “I suppose some readers may want to challenge some of the examples he uses with anecdotes of their own. However, I appreciate that Zaki provides his research and sources explicitly. This trait is actually one of the features of the book that we found appealing.”
A committee of faculty, staff and students selects the annual Pirate Read and coordinates activities with departments within academic and student affairs.
The purposes of the summer read program are to orient students to the academic community by encouraging intellectual dialogue and critical thinking and to prepare students for the college environment. The program also allows students to share a common reading experience with fellow classmates and faculty members and enables students and faculty to discuss ideas from the book across the curriculum.
Authors of past Pirate Read selections have visited campus the fall after students read their books. But due to the uncertainties surrounding COVID-19, ECU has not invited Zaki to speak on campus, Morse said.
Past Pirate Read selections include “The Last Ballad,” “Evicted” and “Just Mercy.” This is the 13th year of the Pirate Read program.