This symposium is a three-day interdisciplinary event that speaks to key issues facing our nation today: namely the challenges that confront veterans from the numerous, ongoing sites of combat and conflict around the globe. The symposium will include panel discussions by a range of scholars, artists, and veterans, keynote lectures, an art installation, an exhibition, a film screening, a short film exhibition, a solo performance, and a staged reading of a new play. 

The goal of the symposium is to employ the interactive, visceral nature of the performing and visual arts in conjunction with leading scholarly enterprise as well as community outreach efforts to provoke new dialogue, explore creative works, share resources, advance scholarship and promote a lasting, active engagement with the realities of the costs of war.  As the United States emerges from nearly fourteen years of sustained military combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, Responsibility, Morality and the Costs of War: PTSD, Moral Injury and Beyond will expand and deepen the examination into the myriad costs of war.  We hope to galvanize the sizable Ohio State student population and the Central Ohio community as a gateway to impacting the national/international conversation concerning war and its costs.

The Department of Theatre at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio is hosting this event November 12-14, 2015.  The symposium keynote speaker is Dr. Jonathan Shay, acclaimed author of Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character and Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming.  Other notable participants include Emmy-winning filmmaker Heather Courtney, Ohio State faculty member and decorated veteran Dr. Peter Mansoor, Ohio State endowned chair of History Dr. Bruno Cabanes, combat veteran and founder of American Women Veterans Genevieve Chase and award-winning playwright and actor Bianca Sams.

The call for papers, panels, interactive workshops, performances and art works may include but is not limited to: current research on PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury: the emergence of Moral Injury as a defining classification for veterans; the role of a civilian population in the return of military veterans to society; the human factors of decision-making in the context of war; the role of ritual in war and in welcoming warriors home; the history and effectiveness of the performing arts in exploring the costs of war; the current public perception of veterans and the care provided them; the unique challenges faced by women military veterans; the interaction of veterans and their communities; community and national avenues of activism and advocacy; works of art; performances; interactive workshops.

This symposium welcomes all who are interested to submit proposals in service of reaching across artistic, scholarly and scientific disciplines to construct an innovative investigation of the costs of war and their impact on soldiers and civilians.

Proposal Instructions are for participation, papers, panels, creative works, workshops and the exhibition of works should consist of a title, abstract/statement (250–300 words), a URL if necessary, and biographic statement (max 150 words).

Submissions or inquiries should be sent in electronic form to Kevin McClatchy: costsofwar@osu.edu

Deadline: August 3, 2015

Responsibility, Morality and The Costs of War: PTSD, Moral Injury and Beyond is supported by The Mershon Center for International Security Studies, The Ohio State University Department of Theatre, The Ohio State University Department of Political Science and Ohio State University Medicine and the Arts. Organized by Kevin McClatchy and Janet Parrott.