Keywords: Abolition, anti-imperialism, contemporary art, critical ethnic/Indigenous/Middle Eastern studies, resistance, solidarities
How can critical theory and curatorial practice inform our analysis of the connections and contradictions between the 18th and 19th century US “American Indian Wars” and the 21st century “Global War on Terror” (GWOT)?
How can we connect the ongoing legacies of Native rebellion against US settler colonialism and genocide with today’s antiwar activists, artists, and cultural practitioners responding to contemporary US warfare, with a focus on GWOT’s impact in the Greater Middle East?
What unique perspectives do BIPOC veteran artists and war resisters bring to the study of these long wars? How do their experiences outside the dominant/nationalist “veteran” identity shed light on the tangled relationship between race, gender, indigeneity, and citizenship?
What are the ethical and political stakes of bringing BIPOC veterans and war resisters into dialogue with Indigenous descendants of US “Indian wars” and survivors of the GWOT, including Arab, Muslim, and South Asian diasporic communities in Chicago?
The Museum and Exhibition Studies Program, Gender and Women’s Studies Program, and emerging Veteran Art Movement are partnering to offer Surviving the Long Wars. This course is the *first part of a two-semester seminar introducing students to contemporary art and curatorial practices in addition to scholarship in critical ethnic, native/Indigenous, and Middle Eastern studies to reveal contradictions, parallels and relationships that generate opportunities for anti-imperialist solidarities and creative visions for a more just future.
During the course student research teams will be partnered with National Endowment for the Humanities Veteran Fellows to investigate and build public programs that examine the connections and contradictions between the eighteenth and nineteenth-century US “Indian Wars” and the twenty-first-century “Global War on Terror.” This class will create opportunities for students to deepen their understanding of the experience of war by examining the multiple, overlapping histories that inform contemporary US warfare as well as alternative visions of peace, healing, and justice created by diverse communities.
Surviving the Long Wars will incorporate academic study, curatorial research, and focused group discussions in conjunction with a public scholarly seminar series in new directions in comparative ethnic, native/Indigenous, and Middle Eastern studies co-curated by Professor Therese Quinn and Associate Professor Ronak K. Kapadia, featuring leading scholar activists including Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Kyle Mays, Harsha Walia, Nick Estes, and Laleh Khalili. The project examines the conflicting and at times interwoven histories and identities of BIPOC veterans with those of native descendants of US “Indian wars” along with more recent survivors of the GWOT, including Arab, Muslim, and South Asian diasporic communities. The project culminates in the second Veteran Art Triennial and Summit in Chicago in March 2023.
*Students are invited, but not required, to take Part 2 in Spring 2023.
