#URReading
#URReading brings students, faculty, staff, and community members together for a shared reading experience that sparks meaningful conversations and new perspectives. Through shared stories and creative events, we strengthen connections between our campuses and the wider community.
September 19 - Spring 2026
#URReading 2025 | Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law
A community exploration of our relationship to our non-human neighbors, made possible by funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and ArtsMidwest, hosted by University of Redlands and Woodbury University.
About the book
Told with an abundance of both information and humor, Fuzz offers a deeply researched, global exploration of how humans relate to their non-human neighbors in a variety of situations. As we build ever farther into previously undeveloped land and as fires force animals to migrate, these questions will face more of us each year.
Author Mary Roach challenges us to think about how we relate to wildlife around us: "I present all this...as evidence of the intractable nature of human-wildlife conflict --- as it is known today by those who grapple with it professionally. The question has defied satisfactory resolution for centuries: What is the proper course when nature breaks laws intended for people?
About the author
Mary Roach is the author of the New York Times bestsellers STIFF, SPOOK, BONK, GULP, GRUNT, FUZZ, and PACKING FOR MARS. Her new book, REPLACEABLE YOU: Adventures in Human Anatomy, debuts in September 2025. Mary has written for National Geographic, Wired, and The New York Times Magazine, among others, and her TED talk made the TED 20 Most Watched list. She has been a guest editor for Best American Science and Nature Writing, a finalist for the Royal Society's Winton Prize, and a winner of the American Engineering Societies' journalism award, in a category for which, let's be honest, she was the sole entrant.
Ways to be involved
We invite our communities to join us for a wide range of activities - hikes, lectures, discussion groups, creative writing workshops, a crowd-sourced map of wildlife encounters in our area, and more!
Guests are encouraged to read the book before attending, but its not required. All events will be free and open to the public.
Mark your calendar
#URReading Mapping
The larger Redlands community is invited to join us in reading Fuzz, and in mapping our local law-breaking nature. Click the button to complete a short questionnaire about your own experience with our non-human neighbors. You can share a story (pictures too) to be included in an ArcGIS map of our community."
Sponsors
