AM8: Military Veterans Stories of Belonging, Transition, and Higher Education: Bridging the Civilian-Military Divide

Collaborative Goals

There is a robust tradition of modern literary writing and criticism of war, including Phil Klay’s fiction and nonfiction, as noted in our epigraph. But while many CNY Corridor campuses have worked hard to recruit military veterans, few academic spaces in the humanities exist for collaborators (faculty, students, and staff) to critically reflect upon and share divergent stories, experiences, and myths about war.

Thus, this new Working Group proposes three goals:

1. Create a space for interdisciplinary researchers to engage in dialogue—as a powerful humanities pedagogical method and a mode of communication across multiple perspectives—to read and share stories about Post-9/11 military service and veterans;
2. Co-create a lasting public good in recorded and archived research-engaged community conversations about CNY veterans’ experiences in transitioning from war to higher education; and
3. To reframe our myths about war and service by exploring diverse communities who serve—those from different geographical, cultural, religious, and professional backgrounds, including African and Native Americans veterans, women and immigrants, and veterans with disabilities (over 30% of the Post-9/11 cohort).

Programs will include regular inclusive dialogue and reading groups and the co-writing of creative and research projects (creative works, critical reflections on existing war writing, research briefs, oral archives to be housed at the National Veterans Resource Center).