{"id":6769,"date":"2019-10-16T09:15:31","date_gmt":"2019-10-16T13:15:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/artsci\/?p=6769"},"modified":"2021-02-22T11:13:53","modified_gmt":"2021-02-22T16:13:53","slug":"uris-college-of-arts-and-sciences-plays-a-pivotal-role-in-providence-clemente-veterans-initiative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/artsci\/uncategorized\/uris-college-of-arts-and-sciences-plays-a-pivotal-role-in-providence-clemente-veterans-initiative\/","title":{"rendered":"Arts and Sciences Plays Pivotal Role in Award Winning Clemente Veterans\u2019 Initiative"},"content":{"rendered":"

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) awarded a $99,000 grant to the Providence Clemente Veterans\u2019 Initiative<\/a> (PCVI) to support a dynamic program that serves veterans by providing opportunities to study history, public speaking, literature, philosophy, and art history. The program won the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities<\/a> Innovation in the Humanities<\/em> award in October 2020.<\/p>\n

Collaborators to the PCVI program include Bard College, the University of Rhode Island\u2019s College of Arts and Science, Trinity Repertory Company, and Operation Stand Down RI. Bard College offers participants transferrable college credit; Trinity Repertory Company serves as the host location and offers dramatic readings for particular lessons; the Rhode Island School of Design\u2019s Professor Suzanne Scanlon provides art and art history lessons; and Operation Stand Down RI assists with recruitment. Mark Santow, Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, serves as director and the program\u2019s History instructor. From the University of Rhode Island\u2019s College of Arts and Sciences, Jen Riley<\/a>, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and Professor of English, Cheryl Foster<\/a>, Professor of Philosophy, and Kathleen Torrens<\/a>, Professor of Communication Studies, offer coursework in literature, philosophy, and public speaking, respectively. The course is offered free of cost to participants, and is being held via Zoom this spring semester.<\/p>\n

Contributing to the program through both financial and curricular support reflects the College of Arts and Sciences\u2019 commitment to responding to community needs in Rhode Island. Further, supporting veterans through innovative, collaborative, and skill-building coursework reflects the College\u2019s intentional efforts to foster interdisciplinary approaches to identifying, understanding, meeting, and solving the pressing and emerging challenges confronted by our communities. \u201cWe are modeling a way that the liberal arts can be part of the Land Grant tradition,\u201d Dr. Foster says, \u201cby offering an avenue into the humanities for the individuals participating.\u201d The program makes the liberal arts accessible to community members while also showcasing the power of the humanities to shape lives and bring a community closer together.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis program responds to studies that recognize that veterans are returning from conflict with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder,\u201d says Dr. Riley. Through a humanities-focused curriculum, veterans are exposed to a range of texts \u2013 from the Ancient Greeks to contemporary literature \u2013 that explore themes of war, conflict, and reconciliation through various practical and theoretical lenses. Through coursework and discussion, they are encouraged to reflect on their past experiences and explore ways to move forward. \u201cStudents walk away with the skills to pick up any piece of literature in the future,\u201d Dr. Riley says, which is \u201ca lifelong tool for making sense of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Veterans who have participated cite valuable academic experiences, long-lasting connections, and personal fulfillment. After completing the program, some have continued to work toward Associate or Bachelor degrees. For the professors who are involved, the experience is proving to be equally meaningful and rewarding. \u201cContributing to a population of military veterans is important to me,\u201d Dr. Torrens says. \u201cAfter one semester of hearing their stories and understanding their context on a deeper level, it has become even more important. Students walk away with deeper connections to community, family, and themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>

Clemente Veterans\u2019 Initiative<\/h2>

To learn more about the program or to apply to be a student of the course in Providence, RI, please visit our website.<\/p><\/div><\/div>

Visit website<\/div><\/a><\/div>\n

Ultimately, the outreach, value, and power of the humanities to inform one\u2019s life and enhance one\u2019s perspective remain guiding themes for the program. In this case, the participating professors all express feeling privileged for being able to facilitate meaningful connections between these outstanding individuals, their experiences serving our country, and their communities.  \u201cWhen veterans are faced with fragmentation, alienation, and a sense of not being tied into their communities [after they return from their service],\u201d Dr. Foster says, \u201cthe humanities can be a talisman for figuring out the human experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

~Written by Aria Mia Loberti, Class of \u201920, Philosophy, Communication Studies, and Political Science Major<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The National Endowment for the Humanities recently awarded $99,000 to support the Providence Clemente Veterans\u2019 Initiative. The program serves veterans by providing opportunities to study history, public speaking, literature, philosophy, and beyond. Professor of Communication Studies Kathleen Torrens, Professor of Philosophy Cheryl Foster, and Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Jen Riley discuss the impact of this program, the salience of the humanities, and the importance of URI\u2019s contributions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1089,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[7,1],"tags":[34,37,49,271,97,274],"class_list":["post-6769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-uncategorized","tag-college-of-arts-and-sciences","tag-communication-studies","tag-english","tag-national-endowment-for-the-humanities","tag-philosophy","tag-providence-clemente-veterans-initiative"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/artsci\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/artsci\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/artsci\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/artsci\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1089"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/artsci\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6769"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/artsci\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6769\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12170,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/artsci\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6769\/revisions\/12170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/artsci\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/artsci\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/artsci\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}