Two keynote speakers and faculty from teaching institutions across the county will present their scholarship on war and its impact on social, political, economic and cultural life. The conference will be headquartered at Grand Valley's L.V. Eberhard Center, 301 W. Fulton, in Grand Rapids.
Dr. Jonathan Shay will provide a keynote address on medical and social responses to combat trauma at 8 p.m., on Friday, October 20, in Loosemore Auditorium in the DeVos Center, 401 W. Fulton. Shay is a distinguished psychiatrist who has worked with the Veterans Administration, U.S. Naval War College, and the Office of Army Deputy Chief of Staff. His research on psychological trauma in Vietnam veterans has been documented in his acclaimed books, "Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character" and "Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming," which includes a forward by Sens. John McCain and Max Cleland.
Professor Omer Bartov will provide an address on racial war and extermination on Saturday, October 21, at 12:30 p.m., in the Eberhard Center. Bartov is a distinguished professor at Brown University who has published extensively on the history of the Holocaust and genocide studies, including "The Crimes of War: Guilt and Denial in the Twentieth Century," "Hitler's Army," and most recently "The 'Jew' in Cinema: From the Golem to Don't Touch My Holocaust."
In the last two decades, scholarship has broken new theoretical ground and re-shaped the ways historians conceptualize the larger significance of mass violence, trauma and society. The conference, which strives to bridge the divide between universities and the public, and to cultivate interdisciplinary work, will be of interest to faculty, graduate students, public historians, and independent scholars from across the country.
For a complete conference schedule and registration form, see www.gvsu.edu/history. Conference registration is required. Admission is free for Grand Valley faculty, staff and students. Cost to the general public is $20 for the two-day event, which includes breakfast and lunch on Saturday.
For more information contact event Co-chairs from GVSU's Department of History: Jason Crouthamel at (616) 331-2931, or Craig Benjamin at (616) 331-3469.
