Providence Clemente Veterans Initiative: Extending the Reach

FAIN: AV-291088-23

Clemente Course in the Humanities, Inc. (New York, NY 10065-8014)
Mark Edward Santow (Project Director: September 2022 to present)

A two-year project to hold four 12-week Dialogues on the Experience of War seminars for 10 military veterans and interested civilians per seminar, preceded by a preparatory program for six seminar discussion leaders

The Providence Clemente Veterans Initiative (PCVI) has been funded in part by an NEH Dialogues grant since 2019. Through our trauma-informed approach, we (a) facilitate peer discussion of the personal and universal experiences of war and homecoming throughout time, as embodied by texts and materials in history, philosophy, literature, art history, film, and creative disciplines; (b) support the return to civilian life by historicizing and contextualizing the experience of homecoming within ethical and existential frameworks across cultures; and (c) foster veteran well being and a purpose filled life through developing opportunities for civic engagement, creative expression, and community connection. In the wake of its successful program and in partnership with the Clemente Course in the Humanities, the PCVI seeks to deepen, refine, and extend its existing mission.