2021-2022
2021-2022 Go Big Read: Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
Gifty is a PhD candidate in neuroscience studying reward-seeking behavior in mice and the neural circuits of depression and addiction. Her brother, Nana, was a gifted high school athlete who died of a heroin overdose after an ankle injury left him hooked on OxyContin. Her suicidal mother is living in her bed. Gifty is determined to discover the scientific basis for the suffering she sees all around her. But even as she turns to the hard sciences to unlock the mystery of her family’s loss, she finds herself hungering for her childhood faith and grappling with the church in which she was raised. It’s a moving portrait of a family of Ghanaian immigrants in a novel about faith, science, religion, love.
Press Release
Read Chancellor Blank’s Press Release about the book: Novel ‘Transcendent Kingdom’ chosen as UW–Madison’s 2021-22 Go Big Read book
Virtual Keynote Event
Featuring Yaa Gyasi (author) and Prof. Ainehi Edoro-Glines (discussant)
Archived Video of Keynote Event (Restricted to UW Affiliates)
Book Resources
Book Discussion Toolkit (developed by Go Big Read program)
Reading Guide and Discussion Questions for Transcendent Kingdom (developed by Go Big Read program)