Professor Peyton Wilde has an enviable life teaching sociology at an idyllic liberal arts college--yet she is troubled by a sense of fading inspiration. One day an invitation arrives. Peyton has been selected to attend a luxurious all-expense-paid seminar in Iceland, where participants, billed as some of the greatest thinkers in the world, will be charged with answering one perplexing question. Meeting her diverse teammates--two neuroscientists, a philosopher, a dance teacher, a collage artist, and a farmer--Peyton wonders what she could ever have to contribute. The ensuing journey of discovery will transform the characters' work, their biases, and themselves. This suspenseful novel shows that the answers you seek can be found in the most unlikely places. It can be read for pleasure, is a great choice for book clubs, and can be used as unique and inspiring reading in qualitative research and other courses in education, sociology, social work, psychology, and communication.
Industry Reviews
"[A book] that will actually be read, that will be learned from, that will change minds, that will make a difference. Leavy’s writing and advocacy has completely changed the publishing landscape for those who do this work. Spark presents academic ideas at their most accessible: a book that anyone who has a propensity for thinking might enjoy, while drawing attention to some of the crucial issues of our time, for academia and for the world.”
