Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • |
  • Alumni
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit

SU Press publishes ‘Off the Beaten Path,’ stories of people around the world from ProLiteracy’s Ruth Colvin

Wednesday, January 11, 2012, By News Staff
Share

Off Beaten PathFrom the Sunshine Coast of South Africa to a remote ashram in India, Ruth Colvin and her husband have traveled around the world, visiting 62 countries and providing literacy training in 26 developing countries. The founder of Literacy Volunteers of America, Inc., which merged with Laubach Literacy in 2003 to become ProLiteracy, Colvin has been invited by universities, religious organizations and the International Executive Service Corp. to share her skills in native language literacy and English as a second language training.

“Off the Beaten Path: Stories of People Around the World ” (2011) published by Syracuse University Press, chronicles the literacy pioneer’s life of world travel and the many encounters she had as she taught others to read and write. Throughout her travels, Colvin met people from all walks of life—a holy man in India, a banned leader and a revolutionary in the apartheid system of South Africa, lepers in India and Madagascar, Chinese Communists who truly “serve the people” and survivors of Pol Pot’s Cambodia.

According to Colvin, her most rewarding adventures were connecting with individuals from vastly different backgrounds and experiences, learning about their cultures and traditions, and discovering the many similarities all people share. Believing education is the key to facilitating communication and understanding among people around the world, Colvin—a lifelong learner herself—has dedicated her life to teaching others.

A Syracuse resident and recipient of nine honorary doctorates, Colvin was given the highest award for volunteerism in the United States, the President’s Volunteer Action Award, in 1987. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2006 and was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1991. 

David Baldacci, a New York Times bestselling author, says about “Off the Beaten Path”: “Ruth Colvin exemplifies the power of one individual changing the world for the better. I share Ruth’s passion of eradicating illiteracy within the United States and I am humbled by the stories she shares in her book.”

And Gregg A. Tripoli, director of the Onondaga Historical Association in Syracuse, says: “‘Off the Beaten Path’ provides a glimpse into the lives of different people and their cultures, the overwhelming desire of people to learn and the understanding that, despite our cultural differences, we are generally more similar than different.”

A March 15 book launch is planned at the Onondaga Historical Association at 4 p.m. It is open to the public.

For more information on, or to purchase “Off the Beaten Path,” visit Syracuse University Press at http://syracuseuniversitypress.syr.edu/fall-2011/off-beaten-path.html. It can also be purchased at local bookstores and Amazon.com.

  • Author

News Staff

  • Recent
  • Supporting, Advocating for Trans Youth Will Help Them Thrive As Adults
    Friday, May 26, 2023, By Daryl Lovell
  • 2023-24 Parking Rates Announced
    Friday, May 26, 2023, By News Staff
  • Lutheran Chaplain Announces Retirement
    Thursday, May 25, 2023, By Dara Harper
  • Dean J. Cole Smith Talks With FedEx President and CEO Raj Subramaniam G’89 About Leadership and Advice for Current Students
    Thursday, May 25, 2023, By Alex Dunbar
  • From Generation to Generation: Doing Well by Doing Good
    Thursday, May 25, 2023, By Eileen Korey

More In Uncategorized

Syracuse Views Spring 2023

We want to know how you experience Syracuse University. Take a photo and share it with us. We select photos from a variety of sources. Submit photos of your University experience using #SyracuseU on social media, fill out a submission…

Awards of Excellence Honoree: Maxwell has Been ‘a Guiding Hand’ in Public Service Career

Standing before an audience of fellow Maxwell School alumni gathered in Washington, D.C., for the second annual Maxwell Awards of Excellence, CNN anchor Boris Sanchez ’09 shared the motivation behind his work as a journalist. Sanchez emigrated from Cuba as…

NASA Honoring Those Who Were Aboard Space Shuttle Columbia And Other Late Astronauts

Sean O’Keefe, University Professor in the Maxwell School, was interviewed for the USA Today article “Twenty years later, loss of space shuttle Columbia still teaches us lessons.” The article emphasizes how NASA’s Memorial Grove is used to honor late astronauts,…

NFL, Eagles and Chiefs All Set To Win The Economics Game In Super Bowl LVII

Rodney Paul, director and professor of sport analytics in the Falk School, was quoted in the Washington Examiner story “The economics of the Super Bowl: Hosting, gambling, ads, and more.” The article talks in-depth about all of the economics that…

CEOs Requiring In Person Work Is Hurting Diversity

Arlene Kanter, director of the Disability and Policy Program and professor in the College of Law, was interviewed for the Business Insider article “Some CEOs are pushing workers to return to the office, but it could come with a cost:…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • @SUCampus
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2023 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.