Consider it one giant book club, with everyone in the campus community encouraged to read the same book — and discuss it in classrooms, at seminars, over lunch, among co-workers. And to see related films and exhibitions.

This is the Campus Community Book Project, begun nine years ago in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, as a way to promote dialogue and build community. The book project is sponsored by the Office of Campus Community Relations.

This year’s book is Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race, by Beverly Daniel Tatum. The organizers have put together a jam-packed calendar of events, starting Oct. 1. See the complete schedule here.

Most of the events are scheduled in fall quarter, and they are highlighted by the author’s visit to campus on Dec. 10, for a free public forum, 4 to 5 p.m., and an evening address, 8 p.m., both at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts. The nighttime talk is the only book project event for which there is a charge; tickets are on sale now.

Another prominent visitor is Moises Kaufman, who, along with other members of the Tectonic Theater Project, wrote The Laramie Project — about reaction to the murder of Matthew Shepard, killed in 1998 outside Laramie, Wyo., apparently because he was gay.

Kaufman’s visit is a joint event, presented by the Campus Community Book Project and the Hate-Free Campus Initiative, begun last spring in the wake of several incidents of intolerance: Two swastikas turned up in residence halls — one carved into the door of a Jewish student’s room, another etched into a bulletin board — and four more showed up in spray paint elsewhere on campus. A graffiti attack left words like “homos,” “fags” and “queers” in spray paint at the entrance to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Resource Center.

Kaufman is scheduled to be here Oct. 20, for A Conversation with Moises Kaufman: The State of Hate Crimes and Identity, from 12:10 to 2 p.m. in Jackson Hall at the Mondavi Center.

Other events include lectures, panel discussions, workshops, exhibitions and a film series, Conversations About Race, running from all through spring quarters.

The film series is set to begin Oct. 13 with the documentary From the Community to the Classroom — Acts of Hate, Racial Inequality and Seven Years of Student-Led Change in Davis’ “Excellent” Public Schools, a documentary directed by Davis, directed by Davis youths.

The presentation is set to begin at 4 p.m. in 66 Roessler Hall; a repeat is scheduled for 5 p.m. Nov. 9 in 1222 Education Building on the Sacramento campus.

The other films: Swastikas and Jim Crow (Nov. 8), and a three-part documentary series, The Power of an Illusion (Feb. 3, March 2 and May 12).

The book project calendar also includes a performance piece: Asian Voices: Performing Identity Discovery, featuring UC Davis students and a visiting artist, Alex Luu, who was a lecturer this summer in the Department of Asian American Studies.

Asian Voices is scheduled from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Vanderhoef Studio Theatre at the Mondavi Center.

And, what would a book club be without discussion groups? You are invited to attend any or all of the following:

• Inter-Professional Brown Bag Lunch Book Club, based in the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing and the School of Medicine — The club plans to discuss Tatum’s book at three successive meetings, noon to 1 p.m. Oct. 1, Nov. 5 and Dec. 5, in 1222 Education Building on the Sacramento campus.

• Davis Faith and Social Justice Group — Starting Oct. 14 and continuing the second and fourth Thursdays through fall. Potluck dinner at 6 p.m., followed by book discussion at 6:30. For more information, including the location, contact Jill Van Zanten, jillvz@sbcglobal.net.

• Sac Cultural Hub — Community Book Discussion with the Sacramento Community Speakers Panel, comprising educators and activists. 5:30-7:30 p.m. Oct. 26, Underground Books, 2814 35th St., Sacramento. For more information, call (916) 470-2337 or send an e-mail to Pleshette Robertson, pleshette@sacculturalhub.com.

• Anti-Racism Task Team and Adult Religious Exploration Committee, Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis — 1-3 p.m. Dec. 5, 27074 Patwin Road. For more information, contact Leanne Friedman, ljfriedman@ucdavis.edu.

More information.

Earlier coverage: “2010-11 theme examines racial identity, access to higher education” (Feb. 26, 2010)

Tickets for the author’s Dec. 10 address: (530) 754-2787 or (866) 754-2787, or mondaviarts.org.

Office of Campus Community Relations