Globalization and global citizenship are the intertwined themes of this year’s UCSB Reads program, which will kickoff this week at Davidson Library. On Jan. 11, invited guests from UCSB and the larger community will join in welcoming an unusual book that, in author Pietra Rivoli’s words, “tells a great story” about the complicated journey of a simple garment.

“The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy: an Economist Examines the Markets, Power and Politics of World Trade” is the full title of the book UCSB and other communities will be reading and discussing in the coming months. To get things started, around 2,000 free copies will be given to students on Jan. 15 in the library’s main lobby.

Rivoli, a Georgetown University business professor who has been on their faculty since 1983, worked on her book for five years. She traced a t-shirt’s life cycle from its beginnings in a Texas cotton field, to a Chinese textile factory, back to the United States, and eventually to a used clothing market in the East African nation of Tanzania. She is scheduled to speak on campus on March 5.

Due to the exploration of politics, ethics, international trade, and business history in “Travels,” a number of faculty have said they plan on using the book in their courses this quarter, organizers report. In late February, the Women’s Center will sponsor a faculty-graduate student panel discussion of “The Gendered Economics of Globalization,” in a riff from the book.