The Vietnam War: As Seen in Film and Literature

On the fiftieth anniversary of the Vietnam War, this course offers commentary on the war from various perspectives in film and literature. In weeks one, two, five and six, we will screen and discuss four documentary films: In the Year of the Pig, directed by Emile de Antonio; The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara, directed by Errol Morris with an original score by Philip Glass; Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam, directed by Bill Couturie; and Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision, a film about the artist who designed the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, directed by Freida Lee Mock.

Weeks three and four will be devoted to two novels: The Things We Carried by Tim O’Brien and Dispatches by Michael
Herr. They describe the alternating cynicism and helplessness of American soldiers swept up by a war ferociously pitchedon political abstraction. Both novels—one fictional, the other non-fictional—reveal the searing effects of the Vietnam War on the hearts and souls of young men and women plucked from peaceful lives and thrust into a matrix of absurdity and violence.

For Film: Former Mayor of Scranton David Wenzel
For Literature: Daniel V. Fraustino, PhD., Professor of English, The University of Scranton

Wednesdays:  March 20 and 27; April 3*, 10*, 17, 24
5:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Brennan Hall, Pearn Auditorium (Room 228)
*with the exceptions of April 3 & 10, which will take place in the Library, Rm 305

Religious Pluralism:  Problem or Promise?  The Case of Christianity and Islam

Members of various religious traditions live in increasingly close proximity to one another, making it nearly impossible to avoid the religious “other.”  Using relations between Christians and Muslims as a focal point, this course examines some of the ways that thinkers and believers of one religious tradition have understood other religious traditions, both historically and currently.  We will examine the exclusivist, inclusivist and pluralist positions and also examine the practical implications of those positions by considering current events and contemporary situations in places as diverse as the United States, Europe, Turkey and Syria. We will conclude by studying a few creative attempts at Christian-Muslim dialogue today.

Christian S. Krokus, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Theology/Religious Studies, The University of Scranton

Georgia O’Keeffe

An exploration of an American master, steeped in the modernist tradition and at the same time seeing the world and painting the world in a unique way. O’Keeffe mused in 1916 that “School and things that painters have taught me…keep me from painting as I want to.”

Josephine Dunn, PhD., Professor of Art History

Right: Petunia No. 2, 1924 Georgia O’Keeffe Oil on canvas 36 x 30 (91.4 x 76.2) Gift of The Burnett Foundation and Gerald and Kathleen Peters (1996.03.02) © Georgia O’Keeffe Museum