More than 90 veterans, scholars and activists from around the world will gather May 22-24 (Tuesday-Thursday) at the University of Notre Dame for This is the first major academic conference to explore the impact of military antiwar movements, especially during the Vietnam and Iraq wars, and their importance for peacebuilding. The conference is hosted by Notre Dame鈥檚听, an integral part of the .听
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鈥淭he historic campaigns we will examine in this conference are linked to the movements of today, especially to the students and community activists organizing against the scourge of gun violence in the U.S., just as we march to prevent war and armed violence abroad,鈥� says听, director of policy studies at the Kroc Institute and the conference convener. 鈥淎s one of the premier peace studies centers in the world, it鈥檚 important for us at Kroc to understand social movements that have opposed war. During the Vietnam War, the peace movement within the military was less well-known, but it had a significant impact on pressuring political leaders to end an unjust war.鈥�
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The conference will also host the formal launch of the听"," a newly created digital archive of "underground"听antiwar newspapers published by and for active duty GIs during the Vietnam War. The collection is housed by the Wisconsin Historical Society.
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The conference will also host the U.S. debut of the exhibit听"." Notre Dame will be only the second stop for this exhibit, following its display at the in the former South Vietnam capital, Ho Chi Minh City.
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Ron Carver, a participant in antiwar GI coffeehouses during the Vietnam War and the curator of the exhibit, began to pull materials together after visiting the War Remnants Museum in Vietnam in 2016 and being approached by then director Nguyen Knoc Van听who was interested in displaying information about opposition to the war within the armed forces. The staff at the War Remnants Museum were instrumental in designing and displaying the exhibit.听
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鈥淚鈥檝e been involved in the social justice movement for over 50 years, and I was alarmed that most people had no idea about the critical role played by active duty soldiers and veterans in the antiwar movement,鈥� says Carver. 鈥淥ur goal is that this exhibit and the academic papers coming out of this conference can help to educate more people in the general population about these movements and the role of antiwar soldiers in ending war.鈥�
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In addition to the War Remnants Museum and the Kroc Institute, the exhibit was also supported by several other peace institutions, including听the Ho Chi Minh City Foundation for Peace and Development and the International Network of Museums for Peace. The exhibit is free and open to the public. It will be听on display in the Hesburgh Center for International 91视频 through June 15.听
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Both Cortright and Carver hope that the conference will promote intergenerational exchange, encourage conversation within the U.S. military and inspire a new generation of scholars to study these movements and the strategies for building peace that they employed.
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鈥淚鈥檓 so pleased that we attracted good participation and hope that we鈥檒l see additional publications and听more research produced and also inspire new generations to remain active in organizing against unjust war,鈥� said Cortright.听
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Veterans of the Vietnam and Iraq wars, as well as the ongoing 鈥淲ar on Terror鈥� in the United States, are among those who will present during the conference. Among them are Susan Schnall, a Navy nurse during the Vietnam War who hired a small plane and dropped 20,000 antiwar flyers over five military bases in San Francisco, and Nathan Smith, a former active duty U.S. Army artillery and intelligence officer with deployments to both Afghanistan and Kuwait and the plaintiff in the lawsuit Smith v. Obama (now Smith v. Trump) alleging violations of the War Powers Resolution in the war against ISIS.
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Other presenters include Madame Ton-Nu-Thi Ninh of the ; Tran Xuan Thao, director of the War Remnants Museum; historians Michael Kazin and Christian Appy; sociologist David Meyer; and Veterans For Peace Executive Director Michael McPhearson.
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Many Notre Dame faculty are involved in presenting and moderating panels, including Cortright; , John M. Regan Jr.听Director of the Kroc Institute; , associate professor of sociology and peace studies; , associate professor of religion, conflict and peace studies; , Marilyn Keough Dean, Keough 91视频 of Global Affairs; and , assistant professor of English and Kroc Faculty Fellow.
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Plenary sessions on May 22 will be livestreamed听(a link will be posted from this page shortly) and the full lectures will be made available following the conference. 听
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The听听supports study,听research and practice centered on strategies for sustainable peace and supports undergraduate, master鈥檚听and Ph.D. students in peace studies.
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Contacts:听David Cortright, David.B.Cortright.1@nd.edu;听Amanda Skofstad, skofstad@nd.edu
Originally published by at on May 14.