Common Text Study Guide

Each year Loyola chooses a Common Text for all first-year students to read before the Fall semester begins. The book chosen for your incoming class, by a committee of current Loyola students, faculty, and staff, is A Backpack, a Bear, and Eight Crates of Vodka, a vibrant and humorous memoir, and complex and nuanced exploration of the experiences of antisemitism, the refugee experience, immigration, family dynamics, and more.  

During Fall Welcome Weekend, the Class of 2030 will convene on campus, and you will discuss the Common Text with your academic advisor, who is also one of your professors, and your fellow students in your Messina group. It is important that you read the text with care and come prepared to discuss the ideas presented in this study guide. The Common Text is intended for reading by everyone in your class and may be included in Messina course discussions, tests, or assignments during Fall and/or Spring semester. Messina will also sponsor events throughout the year to address themes raised in the text.

Before you read

1. What do you know about antisemitism? What sources do you get your information from?
2. What do you know about the Soviet Union and its collapse? Does it seem like ancient history, or history your parents and family members may remember?
3. What are some reasons people might be willing to leave their country, even in the face of danger?

While you read

1. How would you describe Lev Golinkin’s awareness of what his family is experiencing when he is 9 years old? How about when he is a teenager?
2. How does Golinkin describe the frustrations he and his family are experiencing at different times in their lives? Do the members of his family feel like they have agency to make decisions for themselves and change their circumstances?
3. How does Golinkin describe his, and his family’s, Jewish identity when they are still living in Ukraine? How does he describe their identity as they build new lives in the United States?
4. Describe the humor Golinkin uses in telling his story. How does his humor connect the reader to his experiences?

After you read

1. How does the memoir explore identity, from religion to citizenship, and other ways people define themselves?
2. How does the memoir explore the complexities of being an outsider? How does the memoir explore being a member of community(ies)?
3. How does the memoir contribute to the reader’s understanding of history and historical events?

Engage Further

1. See author Lev Golinkin speaking at events and on television over the last decade.
2. Explore Seventeen Moments in Soviet History, an interactive, multimedia guide housed on the Michigan State University website.
3. Learn more about antisemitism and the atrocities committed against Jewish people during World War II at the Holocaust Museum website (and consider a visit to the museum in Washington, DC). There is also more to learn at the National World War II Museum about the significant events in Ukraine that help underscore the experience of families like Golinkin’s after the war.
4. Explore immigrant and refugee experiences through resources developed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, or the International Rescue Committee, and the Migration Policy Institute.
5. Learn how Catholic Relief Services in Baltimore serves immigrant communities at the Esperanza Center.
6. Learn more about interfaith work, including for Jewish members of the Loyola community, through Campus Ministry.
7. Take a look through Loyola’s course catalog to explore some of the courses focused on similar themes and content, including:
   1. PS307 Global Politics of Migration
   2. TH261 Introduction to Judaism
   3. TH308 Immigration and Catholic Teaching
   4. PY244 Life Span Development
   5. PY253 Multicultural Issues in Psychology
   6. SC203 Globalization and Society
   7. SC377 Social Movements and Social Protest
   8. WR200 Introduction to Creative Nonfiction

Questions?

Contact the Messina Office at 410-617-2669, messina@loyola.edu, or browse the website for a list of academic and support services available to Loyola students, including helping you make the transition to campus and college life.