The Warrior's Path: Moral Injury, War, and Reclaiming the Soul

FAIN: AV-260595-18

Medical College of Wisconsin (Milwaukee, WI 53233-2237)
Katinka Hooyer (Project Director: October 2017 to February 2021)

The training of eight veteran discussion leaders to conduct five discussion groups for veterans in greater Milwaukee on the moral and spiritual injuries of war.

In a society that focuses on posttraumatic stress disorder as the dominant narrative to describe the personal cost of war, the deeper moral or spiritual suffering veterans experience remains elusive. Moral and spiritual dialogues are key to developing civic understanding of the war experience. What types of moral injuries do wars create and how can we think more deeply about such suffering? The Warrior’s Path: Moral Injury, War and Reclaiming the Soul, uses humanities texts and multi-sensory techniques to elicit and reflect on these experiences. The program synthesizes poetry, Shakespeare’s plays and a graphic novel to explore the nature and diversity of moral injury. Warrior’s Path will train eight military Veterans as NEH Discussion Leaders to facilitate three cycles of veteran-to-veteran discussion groups, two veteran-to-civilian dialogues, and three radio shows. The program aims to prepare veterans to publicly discuss the moral impact of war, thus cultivating a deeper civic understanding.

Associated Products

Warriors Path: War, Moral Injury and Reclaiming the Soul, Discussion Series on the Military Graphic Novel (Course or Curricular Material)
Title: Warriors Path: War, Moral Injury and Reclaiming the Soul, Discussion Series on the Military Graphic Novel
Author: Katinka Hooyer, PhD
Author: Kathleen Dale, PhD
Abstract: The discussion group series is purposefully designed to provide Veterans the time and support to reflect on and discuss experiences with war and moral injury. This 5-week program combines the graphic novel genre with contemporary war poetry as an entry point for difficult moral and spiritual dialogues. Max Uriarte’s novel, The White Donkey, is the main source. Each week is organized around a 90-minute session, beginning with a collective reading of sections from the novel and followed by semi-structured questions facilitated by a leader. Please see the accompanying Discussion Leader Guide for this Warriors Path series.
Year: 2019
Primary URL: http://www.katinkahooyer.org/ux-portfolio/war-and-reclaiming-the-soul/
Primary URL Description: This website is the project director's portfolio site and provides information on the Warriors Path Discussion Series, 2018-2019, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities Dialogues on the Experience War program.
Secondary URL: https://mcw.academia.edu/KatinkaHooyer/Syllabi-and-Curriculums
Secondary URL Description: This website is an online curriculum vitae and knowledge-sharing site for academics. The Warriors Path syllabi and discussion guides are located on the project director’s site.
Audience: Other

Warriors Path: War, Moral Injury and Reclaiming the Soul, Discussion Series on Shakespeare’s Historical Plays (Course or Curricular Material)
Title: Warriors Path: War, Moral Injury and Reclaiming the Soul, Discussion Series on Shakespeare’s Historical Plays
Author: Katinka Hooyer, PhD
Author: Nancy Smith-Watson
Author: Jim Tasse
Abstract: The discussion group series is purposefully designed to provide Veterans the time and support to reflect on and discuss experiences with war and moral injury. This 5-week program combines the scenes from Shakespeare’s plays with contemporary war poetry as an entry point for difficult moral and spiritual dialogues. Scenes from Coriolanus, Henry V, Henry IV, and Henry VI are the main sources. Each week is organized around a 90-minute session, beginning with a collective reciting of scenes, with lines from the scenes fed to participants. This scenework is followed by semi-structured questions facilitated by a leader. Please see the accompanying Discussion Leader Guide for this Warriors Path series.
Year: 2019
Primary URL: http://www.katinkahooyer.org/ux-portfolio/war-and-reclaiming-the-soul/
Primary URL Description: This website is the project director’s portfolio site and provides information on the Warriors Path Discussion Series, 2018-2019, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities Dialogues on the Experience War program.
Secondary URL: https://mcw.academia.edu/KatinkaHooyer/Syllabi-and-Curriculums
Secondary URL Description: This website is an online curriculum vitae and knowledge-sharing site.
Audience: Other

Heroics in the Military Context (Course or Curricular Material)
Title: Heroics in the Military Context
Author: Katinka Hooyer, PhD
Author: Zeno Franco, PhD
Author: Jenny Plevin
Abstract: This series of short videos addresses society’s moral responsibility to warfighters, what it means to serve above and beyond the call of duty in the military context, the notion of heroism as a "redemptive" act, and the relationship of heroics and moral injury.
Year: 2018
Primary URL: https://vimeo.com/docuwm
Primary URL Description: doc|UWM is the documentary media center in the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Peck School of the Arts' Department of Film, Video, Animation, and New Genres which bridges academics with real world experience and gives students the unique opportunity to work on professional productions. Students and affiliated faculty collaborate on short-form videos that raise awareness about a variety of contemporary political and social issues as well as feature-length documentaries for public television broadcast
Audience: Undergraduate

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