Themester

The IU College of Arts and Sciences sponsors a Themester each fall, focusing many courses, lectures, and other events on the topic for the fall. In 2011, the topic was Making War, Making Peace. The Poynter Center participated in co-sponsoring two speakers and a number of films at the IU Cinema.

Fall 2011--Making War, Making Peace

Tim O'Brien

The IU freshmen read Tim O'Brien's book, The Things They Carried, a novel about Vietnam, which is based on many of O'Brien's own experiences. O'Brien gave a Branigan lecture October 19 on the subject of his book. On October 20 O'Brien met with a smaller group at the Poynter Center to discuss the book. On both occasions he spoke about having two heads--of having two points of view that are not compatible--and about the struggle to figure out which head to listen to. As an example he talked about the Rainy River chapter in the book, in which he had a boat that could have taken him to Canada to evade the draft notice that he had received. He got in the boat, but in the end he went back to U.S. waters, joined the Army, and went to war.

O'Brien talked about how sometimes rationality can fail us. Part of knowing involves tears, laughter, and stomach (gut instinct). He noted that words fail him when he listens to politicians who talk and act with willful ignorance. Rationality fails, so O'Brien tells stories. His stories are made up, but they are rooted in things that happened. Sometimes people want to forget the terrible things they saw or did, and so they forget in order to survive.

	Tim O'Brien listens to a participant make a point.
	The group considers the topic.

Nancy Sherman

Nancy Sherman, University Professor in Philosophy at Georgetown University, has focused her recent work on the soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, looking at the difficulties they are having in letting go of some of what they have seen and what they have done. She spoke November 10 and 11 about her book, The Untold War: Inside the Hearts, Minds, and Souls of Our Soldiers.. She also gave an interview with WFHB Community Public Radio, which aired November 15, 2011. The podcast is available at WFHB. Select "Interchange--Soldiers' Stories."

Nancy Sherman before her presentation to a campus group on Veterans Day.

See Themester for more information about the 2011 topic and topics for other years as well.