The topic of war will be examined through a wide range of human and artistic experiences in different cultures and eras during the colloquium "War" to be held at the University of Colorado at Boulder March 4-6.
Presented by the Center for Humanities and the Arts at CU-Boulder, the colloquium is free and open to the public. It will be held in the Center for British and Irish Studies on the fifth floor of Norlin Library on the CU-Boulder campus.
"We invite all members of the community to join in a broad, interdisciplinary conversation focused on war -- and peace," said Jeff Cox, director of the Center for Humanities and the Arts. The colloquium will feature an array of perspectives on war from several disciplines including philosophy, religious studies, history, literature, music and political theory, he said.
Topics to be discussed include issues raised by the current war on terrorism, what can be learned from past conflicts, war and medicine and war films.
"For some of us who have lived through the Cold War and now the war on terrorism, it seems the country is caught in a perpetual war, whether hot, cold or covert," Cox said.
"What is the response of the humanities and arts to this pervasiveness of war and the continuation of war by other means? What role do the humanities and arts play in the culture of war? How do they contribute to the practice of peace? These are some of the questions we hope to address," he said.
Keynote speakers at the colloquium will include DavÃd Carrasco of Harvard University, a leading expert on Mesoamerican religion and culture and a former CU-Boulder professor, who will speak about the wars of conquest in the Western Hemisphere; Michael Sherry of Northwestern University, who has written widely on U.S. airpower and the U.S. military's place in U.S. history, will speak on "Dr. Strangelove, Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying about Sex and War;" and Elaine Scarry of Harvard, who is internationally known for her books "The Body in Pain" and "On Beauty and Being Just," will speak about war and social contract theory.
In addition to the talks, an art exhibit curated by CU-Boulder Professor George Rivera and titled "War" will be displayed at the Sovereign Gallery, 1537 Pearl St., during the colloquium. The exhibit will run from Feb. 27 through March 11. Ami Dayan, a playwright, director, actor and instructor at Naropa University, will perform his own adaptation of Nobel laureate Dario Fo's "A Tale of a Tiger" on March 6 at 7:30 p.m. in the Old Main Chapel on the CU-Boulder campus.
The Center for Humanities and the Arts also is co-sponsoring a symposium called "Unseen Costs of War: Impacts on Soldiers, Families and Society," on March 6, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and March 7, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Muenzinger Psychology room E050. The Magis Group LLC also is sponsoring the event.
Founded in 1997, the Center for Humanities and the Arts focuses on the study of humanities and artistic creation with the goal of raising the profile of the arts and humanities on the CU-Boulder campus. Each year the center selects a theme around which it organizes a year-long list of activities, including a faculty and graduate student seminar, a lecture series and a spring colloquium.
For a complete schedule of events or more information call (303) 492-1423 or visit the Web site at .