The American War Experience through California Voices

FAIN: AV-265910-19

Cal Poly Pomona Foundation, Inc. (Pomona, CA 91768-2557)
Michael J. Cholbi (Project Director: November 2018 to January 2020)
William Conrad Corley (Project Director: January 2020 to present)
Elke Azpeitia (Co Project Director: April 2019 to present)
William Conrad Corley (Co Project Director: November 2019 to December 2019)

The training and mentoring of 10 discussion leaders to conduct two humanities-based discussion series for veterans and military dependents, one on-campus and one in the wider community, both focused on Californians’ experience of war and military service.

California has played a unique military, economic, and cultural role in the American war experience, becoming central in American discourse surrounding duty, patriotism, and pacifism. Organized into five historical chapters (World War I, World War II, the Cold War, Iraq/Afghanistan/war on terror, and the future of war), the proposed project will utilize texts (fiction and non-fiction), theatrical productions, and films to investigate themes emerging from California's distinctive relationship to the military and to the American experience of war. The project's discussions will be led by student veterans at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and trained by staff at the university's California Center for Ethics and Policy. This project is distinguished by its historical scope, spanning from World War I to the future of war; its focus on how stateside war experience has shaped American regional identity; and its inclusion of non-military populations in its yearlong dialogue.

Associated Products

Spectrum News1 Report on Cold War Public Discussion (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: Spectrum News1 Report on Cold War Public Discussion
Writer: Kim Passoth
Director: Kim Passoth
Producer: Spectrum News1
Abstract: This profile of veteran-student discussion facilitator Dylan Bennett aired on Spectrum News1 and included elements of the grant's discussion programming for the Cold War.
Year: 2020
Access Model: Open access
Format: Digital File

Here & There (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: Here & There
Writer: Paula Weston Solano
Writer: Bernardo Solano
Director: Paula Weston Solano
Director: Bernardo Solano
Abstract: A performance reading of an original play about a day in the life of Cal Poly Pomona’s Iraq and Afghanistan military affiliated students as they grapple with the legacy of military service on campus and abroad.
Year: 2020
Primary URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgTSvWenm_8&feature=youtu.be
Primary URL Description: Recording of premiere showing and cast interviews/discussion
Access Model: available streaming on YouTube, open access
Format: Web

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