California Humanities A State of Open Mind
oin us for the last three public conversations around War Comes Home and CA Reads 2014, a Cal Humanities initiative that seeks to create opportunities for communities across California to grapple with critical questions in the aftermath of over a dozen years of war. The remaining three conversations will be held in Los Angeles, Sacramento, and Jurupa Valley/Riverside.
LOS ANGELES
The Los Angeles Public Library will present a Public Conversation event, Celluloid Soldiers: Veterans Through Hollywood’s Lens on Sunday August 10th, from 2:00pm to 3:30pm at Los Angeles Central Library’s Mark Taper Auditorium, 630 W. 5th Street, Los Angeles.
This forum will delve into how the medium of film has shaped the narrative about veterans’ experiences and how that is changing with recent documentaries about current veterans issues. The forum will include film clips, discussion and audience participation. Free and open to the public.
Panelists include:
• Kirby Dick, Academy/Emmy Award nominated director/writer, The Invisible War (2012 documentary about Military Sexual Assault)
• Jean Oppenheimer, former Pres., LA Film Critics’ Association, writer for American Cinematographer
• Brayden Yoder, writer, director, screenwriter, US Army Iraq war veteran
The forum will be moderated by David Theo Goldberg, Ph.D, Director of the University of California Humanities Research Institute, and Executive Director of the Digital Media & Learning Research Hub.
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SACRAMENTO
The Sacramento Public Library will present a Public Conversation event, The War Within: Veterans and PTSD on August 17th, from 2:00pm to 3:30pm at the Central Library Tsakopoulos Library Galleria,828 I Street in Sacramento.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has major consequences for veterans and their families, from joblessness to homelessness, and even suicide. There are 2.3 million veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and somewhere between 2% and 14% have been diagnosed with PTSD. Yet PTSD is not a new phenomenon, as literature, drama, and poetry about the experience of war illustrate.
This panel discussion will address new findings about PTSD and look at how understanding of it has changed over time.
Panelists will include:
• David Morris, former infantry officer, OEF (Afghanistan), acclaimed author: The Evil Hours: A Biography of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and Storm on the Horizon
• Elisabeth McKenna, PhD, Clinical Psychologist – Family Therapist, Polytrauma System of Care (PSC), VA Palo Alto Health Care System
• Bill Ludwig, Vietnam veteran, 1st Lieutenant, US Army Infantry, retired professional, diagnosed with PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury and other related health issues.
The forum will be moderated by Jay Mechling, PhD, Professor of American Studies, UC Davis (emeritus).
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JURUPA VALLEY/RIVERSIDE
The Riverside County Library System will present a Public Conversation event, Back in the World: Adjusting to Life After War, on August 21, 2014, from 6:00pm-7:30pm at the Louis Robidoux Libraryon 5840 Mission Blvd in Jurupa Valley (Riverside).
The event will include a panel discussion about the challenges facing veterans as they return home from Iraq, Afghanistan, and other combat zones across the globe. As conflict in the region again escalates, this conversation is ever more timely.
Panelists will include:
• Congressman Mark Takano (D-CA), Member, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs House
• Jackie Kozich, 2nd Class Petty Officer, US Navy, UC Riverside graduate, participated in rescue of Capt. Phillips from Somali pirates
• Karyn Young-Lowe, MSW, Founder/CEO of LightHouse Social Service Centers for veterans, a nonprofit agency in Moreno Valley
This forum will be moderated by David Glidden Ph.D, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, UC Riverside and former Cal Humanities board member.
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