April 22, 2024
As part of a new campus/community partnership from the College of Arts and Science, four authors with military backgrounds discussed how their dual identities as veterans and writers intersect and influence each other.
“Military Service/Literary Solace: A Conversation with Veteran Writers” was the first event in the Veterans Humanities Initiative, a program from the MU Center for the Humanities in partnership with Missouri Humanities.
“We are honored to support the University of Missouri’s new Veterans Humanities Initiative,” said Lisa Carrico, Program Director for Missouri Humanities. “Veteran narratives are an integral part of the humanities landscape, offering profound insights into the human experience, history, culture, and ethics.”
The panel of authors — Jerri Bell, Dewaine Farria, Brian Turner, and Matt Gallagher — shared their unique experiences, read samples of their works and engaged in an open dialogue. The four authors shared the stage with moderator Captain Drew Visschner, an Army officer and Mizzou graduate student pursuing an MA in English literature.
A common thread in all panelists’ experiences was the unexpected and often nonlinear paths that led them to where they are today.
“Education by its nature offers the unexpected,” said Phong Nguyen, MU Professor of English, Miller Family Endowed Chair of Writing, and Center for the Humanities Executive Board member. “If you get exactly what you thought you would get, then that isn’t real growth.”
The MU Center for the Humanities’ Veterans Humanities Initiative is a multi-part series of engagements that seeks to understand and process the Veteran experience through creative writing, scholarship, and storytelling. Offered in collaboration with MO Humanities, many of the engagements are free and open to the public. To learn more about joining the Veterans Humanities Initiative as a participant, please contact Phong Nguyen at nguyenpv@missouri.edu.