Events

BIG Read Book Club is Back

And Yoga Will Be With It This Week

Jen Hazel, Faculty Editor

January 27, 2026

Jane Berger and Jen Hazel want you to join them Thursday for Book Club; see the BIG Read website for the readings.

The BIG Read: BIG, Booked & Beyond: Book Club is back this week on Thursday, January 29 from 12-1 p.m. in CH 160*.

This year, the book club will be traveling with fun snacks and hosted by several different offices, where we will learn about neurodiversity through the book selected and discuss how the host office can better support neurodiverse students.

Like all BIG Read (TBR) events, the traveling book club is open to all students, faculty and staff and aspires to foster empathy and deepen understanding through shared conversations and diverse perspectives.

The host of this book club is Student Life. We will discuss: Chapter 10, learn about the benefits of yoga, and learn some yoga with James Zeller, Coordinator of Student Life.

If you don’t have a chance to read it all, come anyway; there is a lot to learn and the discussions are so great!

*If you are on the Findlay Campus, reach out to Paul Weaver or use this link to join.

About the Contributor

Jen Hazel, Faculty Editor

Jen Hazel has been a Professor of English at Owens Community College for 16 years, and she hopes to be here for at least another 16! In addition to her role as a Professor, she has led many projects and initiatives such as revamping the advising program; creating a new student orientation experience; developing campus student mentoring; leading a team in the creation of a co-requisite Composition I course with workshops for educators; and most recently, in conjunction with the manager of tutoring, implemented an embedded tutoring pilot Jen designed; created the Oregon Road Film Series, which includes the ORFS Film Challenge, where Rob Thomas is the co-pilot; leads a team of faculty to publish The Silo, a creative work journal for students and faculty, every spring; and finally, with the Library Director, developed and leads The BIG Read, which raises awareness of different perspectives through literature and accompanying activities across campus and in the surrounding communities. Jen is also the Humanities Department Program Director and designed three brand new certificates that began last fall–one of which is the Media Influencer Certificate! Even with all these projects, according to Jen, nothing is more amazing working with students to help them find their “Ah-ha!” moment.

BIG Read Book Club is Back

Owens OutComm Student Media

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