Join South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg and his Deputy Chief of Staff Brian Pawlowski for the opening spring discussion of the Veterans Book Club on Wednesday, February 10 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in Fireside Room, University Grill, Indiana University South Bend.
Operation Homecoming: Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Home Front, in the Words of U.S. Troops and Their Families
, edited by Andrew Carroll will be the focus of discussion. Copies of the book will be made available at the Schurz Library and to key student and veterans groups. Excerpts of the Operation Homecoming are also available on the book club's blog, at:
https://vetsbookclub.wordpress.com/
The discussion is open to veterans, their families, and community members interested in veterans' issues, as well as IU South Bend students, faculty, and staff.
"Along with student veterans," Dean Bloom notes, "faculty, staff and fellow students will be encouraged to read, participate in discussions, and suggest changes to make the university more veteran friendly."
The book club, made possible by Jerry and Dorene Hammes's generous donation of $13,000 over five years, aims to better integrate veteran students into university life as well as enlighten the faculty, administrators, staff and other students about the challenges and strengths that these students bring to campus.
The theme for the 2015-2016 school year is "reintegration." The first book selected was
Preparing Your Campus for Veterans' Success: An Integrated Approach to Facilitating the Transition and Persistence of Our Military Students
(UB357 .K45 2013).
Future selections include:
- Soldier Girls: the Battles of Three Women at Home and at War (UB418.W65 T56 2015)
- Fire and Forget: Short Stories from the Long War (PS648.W34 F57 2013)
As the program moves forward, the book club will seek veteran input on texts and themes. Dean Bloom hopes that future programs will also include a writing component, where short stories and non-fiction narratives written by veterans and their families can be presented.
For more information about the Veterans Book Club, please contact Dean Vicki Bloom at 574-520-4448 or
vdbloom@iusb.edu
.
