January | Past Events | September |October | November | December |

 
Yet even within that acceptance -and this apparent paradox raises some perplexity- his critique of war is so total that is difficult to see how any might be legitimate. Though despairing that who oppose war and who dare to puncture the war myths will even win over those intent on making war, Hedges urges vigilance.

(Tom Roberts, "Seeing through the lie that is war" in National Catholic Reporter - Nov 29, 2002)

Calendar of Events

January

Movie: Beyond the Classroom presents the film King: Man of Peace in a Time of War

January 26 at 7pm 1102 South Campus Commons, Building 1

What does it mean to be a voice for peace in a time of war? "King: Man of Peace in a Time of War" is a fascinating and revealing look at the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. filtered through the prism of three major conflicts: the struggle between Black and White America; divisiveness within the Civil Rights Movement itself; and an undeclared war in Vietnam. This timely tribute features archival footage of Dr. King, exclusive interviews with the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Colin Powell, and Quincy Jones... plus controversial commentary from Malcolm X. Most remarkable of all is the appearance of Dr. King himself on a 1967 Mike Douglas Show speaking eloquently about Civil Rights and his opposition to the Vietnam War. It is a revelation to see him in a relaxed setting - even though he is peppered with pointed questions from the host. This film is a remarkably relevant tribute to a man who remains an inspiration and a force for social change after his untimely death at the age of 39.

For locating on-campus events, please see the TerpNav Pedestrian Mapping System.

Past Events

September

Movie: Beyond the Classroom presents the film “Why We Fight” (2005) 98min USA Directed by Eugene Jarecki

     September 8 at 7pm 1102 South Campus Commons, Building 1

Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, "Why We Fight" is an unflinching look at the anatomy of American war-making. Granted unparalleled Pentagon access, the film launches a nonpartisan inquiry into the forces -- political, economic, and ideological -- that drive America to fight. Inspired by Dwight Eisenhower's 1961 Farewell Address in which he warned American citizens about the dangers of the "military-industrial complex," filmmaker Jarecki weaves unforgettable stories of everyday Americans touched by war with commentary by a "who's who" of Washington insiders. "Why We Fight" explores a half century of U.S. foreign policy from World War II to the Iraq War, revealing how, as Eisenhower warned, political and corporate interests have become alarmingly entangled in the business of war.  

This fall series is offered for 1-credit as: UNIV 399E: Envisioning Peace: Peace-Building, Peace-Keeping, and Nonviolent Citizen Action"

www.BeyondTheClassroom.umd.edu

For more information, contact:
Dr. James V. Riker
Beyond the Classroom
+1 301 314 6622
jriker@umd.edu

Reading: "Journey's End" by R.C. Sheriff

     September 10 at 3:45pm- 6:00pm Susquahanna 1120

"Journey's End" is R.C. Sheriff's 1928 play about the petrified young officers and men at the front in World War I. It's about coping with fear and stupidity with pluck and patriotism. And of course, that never works. The "fog of war" is very much in evidence here. As is Kipling's cry: "If any question why we died, tell them that our fathers lied."

This rehearsed table-reading is directed by Michael Olmert (Department of English) and performed by undergraduate English and Theatre majors.

Semester on War and the Representation of War
Website: www.war.umd.edu

For more information, contact:
Michael Olmert
Department of English
+1 301 405-3746
psdeane@umd.edu

Discussion: "Oversight of Coalition Operations in Afghanistan", hosted by David Auerswald, Senior Research Fellow, Defense Department's Institute for National Strategic Studies

       September 11 at 12:15pm at 1:30pm 1107 Van Munching

CISSM Forum presents Dr. David Auerswald, who is a Senior Research Fellow at the Defense Department's Institute for National Strategic Studies, and Professor of Strategy and Policy at the National War College. He received his Ph.D. and M.A. in political science from the University of California, San Diego, and undergraduate degrees in political science and English literature from Brown University. He has twice served as a staff member in the United States Senate, and most recently for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where his responsibilities included NATO policy, missile defense, and arms control policy.

Anna O. Kuznetsova
CISSM
+1 301 405 7614
anjak@umd.edu
http://cissm.umd.edu

 

News about Events

 

Movie: Beyond the Classroom presents "Sir! No Sir! The Suppressed Story of the GI Movement to End the War in Vietnam" (2005) 85min Directed by David Zeiger

       September 22 at 7:00pm 1102 South Campus Commons, Building 1

Easily the most timely and resonant film about the role of soldiers on the front lines of antiwar resistance, the award-winning documentary "Sir! No Sir!" (2005) tells an almost entirely forgotten story of the military men and women who helped force the United States government to end the Vietnam War. Contrary to the popular image of long-haired hippies spitting on returning soldiers, "Sir! No Sir!" vividly demonstrates that GIs were the heart and soul of the anti-war movement. Poignantly narrated by a diverse cast of veteran GI resisters who recall the ferocious days of peace marches and stiff jail sentences, "Sir! No Sir!" pulls no punches in its raw depiction of the power of people, especially those in uniform. Directed by David Zeiger, "Sir! No Sir!" is "powerful stuff, offering us not only a look at the past, but to the unavoidably relevant insights into the present." - New York Daily News

For more information, contact:
Dr, James V. Riker
Beyond the Classroom
+1 301 314 6622
jriker@umd.edu
www.BeyondTheClassroom.umd.edu

Movie: “The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara” (2003) 95min USA Directed by Errol Morris

       September 25 at 7pm Hoff Theater, STAMP

Robert S. McNamara discusses his experiences and lessons learned during his tenure as Secretary of Defense under John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. He talks about his work as a bombing statistician during World War II, his brief tenure as president of Ford Motor Company, and the Kennedy administration's triumph during the Cuban Missle Crisis. However, the film focuses primarily on his failures in Vietnam. The theme of the film are his "eleven lessons" learned during this time. Some of these include improving military efficiency, understanding your enemy, and the frustrations of trying to deal with (and unsuccessfully trying to change) human nature.

Free Popcorn & soda!

**Event sponsored by The First Year Book

Lecture: "The Constitution and 9/11: Recurring Threats to America's Freedoms" by
Louis Fisher, Specialist in Constitutional Law, Library of Congress

       September 25 at 5pm Room 6137 McKeldin Library

Louis Fisher is a senior scholar in the Law Library at the Library of Congress and one of the nation's foremost authorities on the Constitution, the presidency, and presidential war powers. Fisher has authored more than three hundred articles and numerous books, including Constitutional Conflicts between Congress and the President (paperback edition 2007), Military Tribunals and Presidential Power: American Revolution to the War on Terrorism (2005), and textbooks on constitutional law. With Leonard W. Levy, he co-edited the four-volume Encyclopedia of the American Presidency (1994). He has testified before Congress on numerous issues. In addition, Fisher has served as a consultant to constitution-writers in Bulgaria, Albania, and Hungary and to constitutional delegations and working groups from Bosnia-Herzegovnia, Lithuania, Romania, Russia, Armenia, the Kyrgyz Republic, Russia, and Ukraine. Dr. Fisher's specialties include constitutional law, war powers, budget policy, executive-legislative relations, and judicial-congressional relations.

October

Movie: "All Quiet on the Western Front" (1930) USA 133min Directed by Lewis Milestone

       October 1 at 7pm Hoff Theater, STAMP

Adapted from a novel by German author Erich Maria Remarque. The film follows a group of German schoolboys, talked into enlisting at the beginning of World War 1 by their jingoistic teacher. The story is told entirely through the experiences of the young German recruits and highlights the tragedy of war through the eyes of individuals. As the boys witness death and mutilation all around them, any preconceptions about "the enemy" and the "rights and wrongs" of the conflict disappear, leaving them angry and bewildered. This is highlighted in the scene where Paul mortally wounds a French soldier and then weeps bitterly as he fights to save his life while trapped in a shell crater with the body. The film is not about heroism but about drudgery and futility and the gulf between the concept of war and the actuality. (imdb)

Presented by the Semester on War and Representations of War. Sponsored by the Hoff Theater, the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, the College of Arts and Humanities, and the Office of International Programs


Art Exhibition:Disability Awareness in the University of Maryland Libraries

       October 1 - October 31 Art Library, Art-Sociology Building, 2nd Floor Atrium

Disabilities and War: Can the Broken Places Be Made Strong Again? In conjunction with a display from the Art Library's collections relating to the "Semester on War and the Representation of War" on view for the fall semester, the Art Library will also have on exhibit "War, Disability, and Art." This exhibit will include images of and by soldiers and civilians disabled emotionally and/or physically by war. It is part of the Campus PCDI October 2008 Disability Awareness Campaign.

For more information, contact:
Louise Greene
The Art Library
+1 301 405-9064
lwg@umd.edu

Lecture: "Pizza and a Panel Series: "Flat Feet and Draft Dodging: The Making of Disability in World War I America."

       October 2 at 12:30-2pm PLS 1140

Beth Linker, History and Sociology of Science, University of Pennsylvania: "Flat Feet and Draft Dodging: The Making of Disability in World War I America." Pizza and soft drinks will be served. This event is co-sponsored by the President's Commission on Disability Issues, the
Nathan and Jeanette Miller Center for Historical Studies, and the Colleges of Arts and Humanities and Behavioral and Social Sciences. Presented by the Semester on War and Representations of War.

For more information, contact:
Sarah Irene Walsh
Center for Historical Studies
+1 301 405 8739
historycenter@umd.edu
www.history.umd.edu/HistoryCenter/index.htm

Presentation: "Modern Arab Media and War Coverage in the Middle East"

       October 3 at 12pm, 0200 Skinner Building

Department of Communication Fall Colloquium Series presentation by Dr. Sahar Khamis, Assistant Professor, Department of Communication. Presented by the Semester on War and Representations of War.

Reading: Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching towards the Somme (1985) by Frank McGuinness

       October 8 at 3:45-6pm Susquehanna 1120

Table Read: Directed by Michael Olmert. For additional information, contact olmert@umd.edu
OBSERVE THE SONS OF ULSTER MARCHING TOWARD THE SOMME by Frank McGuinness (1985): Irish Protestants face death at the Somme on July 1, 1916, the very anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. Presented by the Semester on War and Representations of War.

Movie: "Stop-Loss" (2008) USA 112min Directed by Kimberly Peirce

       October 10 at 7pm Hoff Theater, the STAMP (FREE)

Decorated Iraq war hero Sgt. Brandon King makes a celebrated return to his small Texas hometown following his tour of duty. He tries to resume the life he left behind. Then, against Brandon's will, the Army orders him back to duty in Iraq, which upends his world. The conflict tests everything he believes in: the bond of family, the loyalty of friendship, the limits of love and the value of honor. (Paramount Pictures)

 


Discussion: PEN/Faulkner Presents "In the Quagmire: America at War: Veterans of Vietnam, Desert Storm, and Iraq Discuss Writing Literature About the Lived Experience"

       October 10 at 8pm - Folger Shakespeare Library - 201 East Capitol St., SE, Washington, DC

In the novel, the memoir, and the blog—three war veterans of America’s recent international conflicts explore the ways warfare challenges our very assumptions about humanity, identity, interpersonal communication, isolation, and the ability of language to articulate truth amidst chaos.

Colby Buzzell, winner of the 2007 Lulu Blooker Prize, is the author of the book My War: Killing Time in Iraq. Albert French’s memoir Patches of Fire depicts his Vietnam War experiences as a Marine infantry man and was named a New York Times Notable Book in 1997. Anthony Swofford is the author of the novel Exit A and the memoir Jarhead, which won the PEN Art of the Memoir award and was adapted into a Sam Mendes-directed film in 2005. Clarence Page is a nationally-syndicated, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the Chicago Tribune and a panel member and essayist for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and The MacLaughlin Group. With Albert French, Colby Buzzell, Anthony Swofford with Clarence Page, Moderator.

Tickets are $15, 50% off for University students. To purchase please call 202-544-7077 or visit www.penfaulkner.org

Tina Poole, Programs Coordinator
PEN/Faulkner Foundation
201 East Capitol Street, SE, Washington, DC 20003
(202) 898-9063; (202) 675-0345
http://www.penfaulkner.org/

Photography: "In Bronze and Stone: Images of Memorials to War and Those Who Have Served"

      October 15 - December 15, 2008 Memorial Chapel

This photography exhibit by university staff member Cheryl MacLean explores how war and those who have served in war have been memorialized in sculptures and monuments.

 

Movie: "Redacted" (2007) USA 90min Written and Directed by Brian de Palma

       October 22 at 7pm Hoff Theater, STAMP

Premiered at the 2007 Venice Film Festival, where it earned a Silver Lion "best director" award. Based on the Mahmudiyah killings, the gang-rape, murder, and burning of Abeer Qasim Hamza al-Janabi, a 14-year-old Iraqi girl in March 2006 by U.S. soldiers who also killed her parents and her younger sister, the film is a montage of stories about U.S. soldiers fighting in the Iraq conflict, focusing on the modern forms of media covering the war.

Free Popcorn & soda!

**Event sponsored by The First Year Book

Poetry: War and Representation of War - Poetry Reading

       October 22 at 7pm McKeldin Library (Special Events Room 6137)

Elizabeth Arnold will be reading from her work-in-progress, EFFACEMENT. Of this sequence of poems, Arnold says that it "spiraled out of my having been powerfully struck by a small exhibition of pastel portraits I saw a few years ago at the Tate by the British painter and physician, Henry Tonks, of WWI soldiers who'd been wounded in the face. The drawings were meant as medical illustrations, before-and-after images of the raw wounds and the mostly flawed plastic surgical repair. Tonks' pictures led me to case studies written by a doctor many consider to be the father of modern plastic surgery, Harold Gillies, from which I've put together several found poems. I've also drawn on memoirs, histories, and photographs. I've been fascinated by the physical dimension of war--the disfigurement, pain, social isolation--partly as a result of my own history of illness, surgery, toxic treatment that has caused further illness. In EFFACEMENT, I aim to mark intersections of the soldiers' experience and my own, hoping to dramatize the states of claustrophobia, fear, anger quite common in the permanently physically marred, as well as more (if only momentarily felt) transcendent realizations that can be born of such circumstances."

Movie: "Scared Sacred"

       October 27 - November 2 at Nonprint Media Services, Hornbake Ground Floor 0300

Showing on Dial Access as part of the Campus PCDI October 2008 Disability Awareness Campaign: "Scared Sacred" (2006, 105 min.) This film documents the five-year journey begun by filmmaker Velcrow Ripper to document humanity's ability to transform crisis into possibility. Ripper travels to the "ground zeroes" of the world: Bhopal, India; the minefields of Cambodia; Bosnia; Hiroshima; Afghanistan; post-9/11 New York City; Israel and Palestine, recording stories of survival and hope in the wake of disaster. Just what is it that enables mankind to rise above the disabilities created by destructive forces, the horrors that can never really be forgotten, to stay in a land that has been decimated by war and other acts of violence? The incredible people the filmmaker introduces us to in this film may give us some small clues.

See http://www.lib.umd.edu/nonprint/dialaccess.html for program showing times.

For more information, contact:
Linda Sarigol
Nonprint Media Services Library
+1 301 405 9236
sarigol@umd.edu


Discussion: "War (and) Games" Digital Dialogues at MITH.

       Oct 28 12:30pm at 1:45pm B0135 McKeldin

A conversation about the long history and seemingly unlikely combination of
warfare and gaming, and the representation of war and militarism in computer and board games (for example, the Pentagon recruiting game America's Army). Discussion facilitated by Matt Kirschenbaum and presented by Semester on War and Representations of War.

Lecture: “War is a force that gives us meaning” by Chris Hedges

       October 29 at 4pm Colony Ballroom, STAMP

First Year Book author Chris Hedges will be in campus to talk about his book.

**Event co-sponsored by The First Year Book, the Omicron Delta Kappa Lecture Series, and The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center

 

 

Concert: Kronos Quartet: "Black Angels" & "...hold me, neighbor, in this storm..."

       October 30 at 8:00 pm, Kay Theatre - CSPAC

Continuing their residency at the Center, Kronos combines George Crumb's amplified string quartet Black Angels (1970) with the latest work from Serbian composer Aleksandra Vrebalov. Known as Crumb's "Viet Nam" quartet, Black Angels was the inspiration for the formation of Kronos in 1973. The work has an explosive sensuality that still rings relevant and ominous. The premiere of ...hold me, neighbor, in this storm..., which was inspired by the musical fusion of diverse cultures in the Balkans, was called "a vibrant tapestry of urgent, sinister passages with insistent rhythms, lyrical interludes, raucous folk melodies and microtonal whispers" by The New York Times.

 

November

Dance: Creative Dialogue: Dance Responds to War

       November 3 at 7:00 pm, Laboratory Theatre - CSPAC

Contemporary choreographers Dorfman and Marks discuss the how and why of dance in the context of war. David Dorfman’s underground, presented at the Center on November 6 and 7, uses the 1960s as a starting point to explore the principles of political activism, in particular the activities of the Weather Underground to ask some questions: When can activism become terrorism or vice versa? Can you fight for peace?

Dorfman is joined by Victoria Marks, whose work considers the politics of citizenship and the representation of both virtuosity and disability. Marks is committed to dance-making within the sphere of political meaning. Her recent work, Not About Iraq, was seen at D.C.'s Dance Place in March 2008, and her latest piece, action conversations, was created with and included four U.S. military veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Guest moderator Andrea Snyder is Executive Director of the national service organization Dance/USA , and has served as a leader to the dance field as a funder, administrator, dancer and educator.

Free and open to the public.

Movie: "Barefoot Gen" (1983) (Hadashi no Gen) Japan 83min Directed by Mori Masaki

       November 5 at 7pm Hoff Theater, STAMP

Gen and his family are living in Hiroshima as Japan nears the end of World War II. Gen's father has come to believe that the war is unwinnable, thus earning the wrath of the town officials and, in turn, discrimination from the rest of their neighbors. Shunned by the local merchants and tradesmen, food becomes scarce for Gen and his family. All these concerns soon pale, however, as the American military begins its final assault on Japan with the unleashing of its terrible new weapon. (imdb)

Presented by the Semester on War and Representations of War. Sponsored by the Hoff Theater, the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, the College of Arts and Humanities, and the Office of International Programs. Hosted by Michele Mason.

Reading: War in Literature: Public Readings

       November 11 from 11am - 11pm, McKeldin

Faculty, students, and staff are invited to participate in a public reading as part of /A Semester on War and the Representation of War. McKeldin Library will host "War in Literature: Public Readings," from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Tuesday, November 11, in McKeldin 6137. The public reading of war literature provides an especially profound opportunity to
commemorate and re-live the experiences of war for other people or other times. Members of the University community are warmly encouraged to volunteer to read their favorite war poems, short stories, or excerpts from novels, plays, or memoirs. Each participant will have up to 20 minutes for his or her reading; selections that take less time are also welcome. Readers of non-English-language works are invited to read portions in the original language but should read most in English translation.

If you are interested in participating, please contact either Eric Lindquist or Yelena Luckert by September 30. Please indicate which work you are volunteering to read, how much time you will need, and what hours of the day you are available. For further information, consult our web site, where a list of readings will be posted. Please join us in this campus-wide exploration of war and the representation of war.

Theater: Aquila Theater Company "The Iliad"

       November 11-12 at 8pm, Kay Theater - CSPAC

This performance is offered at $7 to UM students, $15 to current members of the military and retired veterans.

This innovative production, presented here in honor of Veteran's Day, tells Homer's epic story of Achilles and the Trojan War through text, ritualistic movement, original music and compelling action. Using the original Greek poem in translation, Aquila has set the classic story of the Trojan War in the context and metaphor of World War II Normandy, June 1944. The Iliad has had a profound influence on every generation since it was first performed by ancient Greek bards in the Mediterranean more than 2,500 years ago. Its themes of xenophobia, loss and redemption resonate as powerfully today as they have through time.

Read Chris Hedges Article about the Aquila company "Stealing Fire from Olympus; Staging the Greeks, with High-Voltage and Modern energy" (NY Times 12/01/99)

**Event sponsored by the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center and co-sponsored by the First Year Book

Movie: “No End in Sight” (2007) 102 min Written & Directed by Charles Ferguson

       November 18 at 7pm Hoff Theater, STAMP

Chronological look at the fiasco in Iraq, especially decisions made in the spring of 2003 - and the backgrounds of those making decisions - immediately following the overthrow of Saddam: no occupation plan, an inadequate team to run the country, insufficient troops to keep order, and three edicts from the White House announced by Bremmer when he took over: no provisional Iraqi government, de-Ba'athification, and disbanding the Iraqi armed services. The film has chapters (from History to Consequences), and the talking heads are reporters, academics, soldiers, military brass, and former Bush-administration officials, including several who were in Baghdad in 2003. (form IMDB)

Free Popcorn & soda!

**Event sponsored by The First Year Book

Movie: “Duck You Sucker” (1971) (Giú la testa) 157 min Directed by Sergio Leone

       November 19 at 7pm Hoff Theater, STAMP

In Mexico at the time of the Revolution, Juan, the leader of a bandit family, meets John Mallory, an IRA explosives expert on the run from the British. Seeing John's skill with explosives, Juan decides to persuade him to join the bandits in a raid on the great bank of Mesa Verde. John in the meantime has made contact with the revolutionaries, and intends to use his dynamite in their service. (imdb)

Sponsored by the Hoff Theater, the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, the College of Arts and Humanities, and the Office of International Programs. Hosted by Saverio Giovacchini.

December

Presentation: Holocaust Survivor

       December 1 at 10am EGR 1202

Manya Friedman, Holocaust survivor, discusses her experiences during WWII.

Movie: “Land and Freedom” (1995) 109 min Directed by Ken Loach

       December 3 at 7pm Hoff Theater, STAMP

Spring 1936, a young unemployed communist, David, leaves his hometown Liverpool to join the fight against fascism in Spain. He joins an international group of Militia-men and women, the POUM (Partido Obrero de Unificación Marxista). After being wounded he goes to Barcelona, where he decides to join another group of fighters. They remain in Barcelona and end up fighting other anti-fascist groups. David is disappointed and decides to go back to his old band. (imdb)

Presented by the Semester on War and Representations of War. Sponsored by the Hoff Theater, the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, the College of Arts and Humanities, and the Office of International Programs. Hosted by José Maria Naharro-Calderón.

Poetry: Reading by Scott Hightower

       December 4 at 3:30pm Multipurpose Room, The Languages House, St. Mary's Hall

Poetry Reading by Scott Hightower from his book "The Rose of Exile". Cosponsored by the ARHU Semester on War and the School of Languages Literatures and Cultures.

Discussion: "Recruiting and Retaining an All-Volunteer Army."

       December 4 at 5:30pm FSK 0106

Beth Bailey, History, Temple University and Jennifer Mittelstadt, History and Women's Studies, Pennsylvania State University: "Recruiting and Retaining an All-Volunteer Army." David Segal, Sociology, UMD, commentator. Pizza and soft drinks will be served. This event is co-sponsored by the Nathan and Jeanette Miller Center for Historical Studies and the Colleges of Arts and Humanities and Behavioral and Social Sciences.