Fall Themester examines war

The Fall 2011 Themester, a College of Arts and Sciences initiative in undergraduate education, is titled “Making War, Making Peace” and will explore the opposing forces and the related issues surrounding them — genocide, human rights violations, religiously-motivated conflict and others — that drive war in the world we live in.

“There is a tendency to think of war as the disruption of peace, where peace is the norm,” said Professor John Lucaites, chairman of the Themester advisory committee. “But historically, we know that war is the norm and peace an all-too-rare condition. This year’s Themester is designed in part to interrogate this disturbing fact of human
history.”

At the heart of the Themester is the curriculum bundle, a list of courses in the COAS that speak directly to the theme, said Tracy Bee, director of academic initiatives at the COAS.

“While we invite everyone on campus and in the community to engage in the topic of ‘Making War, Making Peace,’ the students in these classes have the opportunity to discuss the theme in depth and connect their class experience to events and opportunities going on outside of class,” Bee said.

About 40 new courses have been added as part of the Fall 2011 Themester. These courses will give students an opportunity to examine war and peace in ways they may not have previously: philosophically, historically and culturally. “War and Peace: The Economics, Politics, and Ethics of Modern Warfare” will examine the nuances of war, focusing on the war on terrorism and recent civil wars.

Others, such as “Studies in East Asian History: War and Peace in Japan,” will take a look at the long-term implications of war on society. Still others, such as “Tolstoy’s War and Peace: Historical and Literary Perspectives”, will examine war from a literary standpoint.

To bring “Making War, Making Peace” to IU students, the COAS has worked with other groups on campus, including the IU Art Museum, which will feature an exhibit of Iranian posters of the Islamic Revolution and the Iran-Iraq War.

This year’s Themester, as last year’s did, will culminate in an undergraduate research conference.

“We feel that one of the things that the College of Arts and Sciences at Indiana University can do that some schools...can’t do is try to share research initiatives of faculty and graduate students with undergraduates,” said Stephen Watt, associate dean for undergraduate education at the COAS. “The undergraduates did great work (last year) in sustainability studies ... This year, we assume they’re going to do a great job, too, on ‘Making War, Making Peace.’”

IU Cinema also contributed to this fall’s Themester.

“The theme of ‘Making War, Making Peace’ provided an abundance of programming options,” said IU Cinema Director Jon Vickers. IU Cinema dedicated an eight-film series to the Themester, which will kick off at 6:30 p.m. Thursday with “The Fog of War.” Other films related to the Themester will also be shown.

Part of the series will be a showing of “My Vietnam Your Iraq,” directed by IU Telecommunications Professor Ron Osgood. The documentary looks at military service across generations as Osgood interviews Vietnam War veterans whose children are currently serving in military operations.

Previous Themesters have brought speakers such as Richard Dawkins and Thomas Friedman to the IU Auditorium. This year, students can attend lectures from former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, political cartoonist Garry Trudeau and Tim O’Brien, author of “The Things They Carried.”

In addition to the on-campus activities, the Themester also reaches out to the Bloomington community, Watt said.

In years past, IU has worked to bring Themester to area high schools and create opportunities for younger students. Last year, over 700 high school students and teachers attended the Cardinal Stage Company’s “Grapes of Wrath,” which was part of the 2010 Themester, “Sustainability: Thriving on a Small Planet.”

Themester is only in its third year, but Bee said that awareness and engagement grow every year.

“One intention was to engage the campus and community and inspire discussion of important issues,” Bee said. “I think the campus and community will also embrace ‘Making War, Making Peace,’ which is a theme so relevant for the times.”