Events and Initiatives

Rocky's Book Club

Rocky’s Book Club is a monthly gathering at USF St. Petersburg’s Bookstore centered around the book of the month. Rocky’s Book Club is designed to foster meaningful connections among students, faculty, and the St. Pete Community through the shared experience of reading. Each month, we’ll explore a wide range of topics and genres, with titles selected by alternating hosts from the USF St. Pete community.

Each book club gathering is open to the public and free to attend. Enjoy discounted drinks from the bookstore café, complimentary light bites, and a lively conversation led by our alternating hosts.

Swing by the USF St. Petersburg campus bookstore, located at 500 3rd Street South, to pick up your discounted book of the month!

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman

Tuesday September 9 
5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m
Hosted by Christian Hardigree - Regional Chancellor of USF St. Petersburg

In a peaceful retirement village, four unlikely friends meet weekly in the Jigsaw Room to discuss unsolved crimes; together they call themselves the Thursday Murder Club.

When a local developer is found dead with a mysterious photograph left next to the body, the Thursday Murder Club suddenly find themselves in the middle of their first live case.

As the bodies begin to pile up, can our unorthodox but brilliant gang catch the killer, before it's too late?

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Iran's Rise and Rivalry with the US in the Middle East by Mohsen Milani

Thursday October 16
12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Hosted by Mohsen Milani - Executive Director of the Center for Strategic & Diplomatic Studies and Professor of Politics at the University of South Florida

The 1979 Islamic Revolution triggered a cold war between Iran and the United States. Despite the US’s relentless efforts at containment, Iran has risen as a formidable power in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, and Gaza.

How did Iran rise so rapidly? And as it faces ever increasing pressure at home and abroad, can it hold onto its power?

Mohsen Milani guides us through the twists and turns of the Iran–US rivalry in the battlefields of the Middle East. 

This book club will be held in collaboration with the St. Pete World Affairs Council.

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The Most Good You Can Do- How Effective Altruism Is Changing Ideas About Living Ethically by Peter Singer

Wednesday November 5
5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Hosted by Howard Rutherford - Associate Vice President of Development, University Advancement at USF St. Petersburg

Peter Singer’s directs our attention to a new movement in which his own ideas have played a crucial role: effective altruism. Effective altruism is built upon the simple but profound idea that living a fully ethical life involves doing the "most good you can do." 

The Most Good You Can Do develops the challenges Singer has made to those who donate to the arts, and to charities focused on helping our fellow citizens, rather than those for whom we can do the most good.

Effective altruists are extending our knowledge of the possibilities of living less selfishly, and of allowing reason, rather than emotion, to determine how we live.

The Most Good You Can Do offers new hope for our ability to tackle the world’s most pressing problems.