 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| | | | | | | |
Reading Series: This features poets and writers who have expressed the experiences of war and its consequences or explored the cultural dislocation of social injustice and oppression. The authors read on campus and meet with students and faculty. Where appropriate authors give readings in the community as well. Numerous authors have reflected, in addition to Vietnam, on conflict in Central America, Ireland, and Eastern Europe. Among those who have participated in the series are: Yusef Komunyakaa, Martín Espada, Demetria Martinez, Bruce Weigl, Tim O'Brien, Larry Heinemann, Lady Borton, Eva Bourke, John F. Deane, Christopher Merrill, Nguyen Quang Thieu, Nguyen Duy Phan Thi Van Ang, Askia Toure, Nuala Ní Dhomnaill and Carolyn Forché.
Lecture Series: Each year a series of lectures is organized presenting distinguished scholars who have published on the issue of war and its consequences. The subjects of the lectures have extended from World War II through Korea and Vietnam to the War on Terrorism which followed the events of Sept. 11, 2001. The series has presented Marilyn Young, Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Chris Appy, Bruce Franklin, Paul Fussell, Ralph Timperi, Michael Clare and the Imam Talal Eid among others.
Panels: One of the central ways the Joiner Center has responded to the political, geopolitcal and cultural and individual trauma of war is through a series of panel discussions. Post-Sept. 11th such an approach allows the issue to be addressed with immediacy and in all its complexity. These panels usually provide a forum for students to become informed on an issue and use experts on the University of Massachusetts Boston faculty. On Sept. 11th, 2002, the center presented the panel "The Terrorist Attack One Year Later" and complemented it in early October with "Attach Iraq? A Teach-In, Speak-Out." Other panels have addressed Minorities in Korea, Women Veterans, Health Issues of Veterans, Vietnamese Literature and Culture and Writing After Sept. 11th.
Writers in the Schools: Each spring,
as part of the center's concentration on issues important to the Hispanic
community, a group of Latino writers visits the Boston public schools and
provides instruction to the students and faculty in both Spanish and English.
Typically, a group of five to seven established authors visits close to
twenty public schools in conjunction with Boston' Bi-lingual Education Program.
To conclude the week students present their work at a reading and the faculty
conduct a reading for Boston's Latino community.
Writers'
Workshop: For two weeks at the end of June the Joiner Center
conducts an annual Writers' Workshop featuring writers who have explored
war and its consequences as members of its instructional and visiting faculty.
Participants in the workshop attend workshop, panels, master classes, translation
workshops and engage in consultations with the faculty.
Exchange Programs: The center engages in a variety of exchange programs with Vietnam bringing teachers to UMass Boston, writers and scholars to Boston and selected sites throughout the country, and American writers and scholars to Vietnam. A delegation of 12 young Vietnamese writers visited Boston and toured the country in February 2002. A program bringing writers from four war-torn areas of the world is currently being developed.
Summer Institute on War and Social Consequences: Formerly titled The Vietnam Institute, this program is a three-day institute at the end of June that puts high school teachers in touch with some of the leading historical scholars. Emphasis is on new ways to teach about war and curriculum development. With funding from the National Institute for the Humanities, the institute once ran a month in length.
Exhibits: The Joiner Center sponsors or hosts exhibits on a regular basis which explore war through alternative media. Exhibits have focused on Amerasians, Children in Vietnam, the Pentagon Quilt Collection, Women Veterans, the Writers' Workshop, Vietnamese village life and art, the art of American veterans of Vietnam, and journalistic photographs from the center's archival collections.
Back
to Events