From Military Trauma to Healing through Creative Arts

Join veteran, author, and activist James Yee, Professor Janet McIntosh of Brandeis University, and veteran poets and performers Jan Barry and Jenny Pacanowski for “From Military Trauma to Healing through Creative Arts,” a live Veterans Day event and lunch at Newark Public Library on November 10, 11:00 am-2:00 pm. The multi-part program will start with a conversation with James Yee, who served as an Army chaplain at Guantanamo Bay in the early 2000s and was accused of espionage when he reported the abuse of prisoners. Ever since the charges were dropped, Yee has been an activist for military justice while pursuing artistic expression as part of his healing.

The second half of the program features Jan Barry, Jenny Pacanowski, and other veterans as they explore how writing, art, and other forms of creative expression can offer veterans pathways to healing from service-related trauma and transitioning into non-military life. This portion will feature an information session and poetic theatrical performance, “Bridge Back Home from War,” by Jan Barry and Jenny Pacanowski, both military veterans who lead efforts to heal veterans through poetry and writing. The information session will introduce attendees to Warrior Writers, a veteran-focused arts organization that fosters artistic exploration through writing, painting, photography, and other media, and Women Veterans Empowered & Thriving, an integration program for women veterans that utilizes writing and performance to empower experiences and facilitate skills to thrive in daily life.

Program

• 11:00 am-12:00 pm: “Military Injustice: Chaplain James Yee’s Story,” a conversation with James Yee and Janet McIntosh
• 12:00 pm-1:00 pm: lunch for all participants and audience members (free of charge)
• 1:00 pm-2:00 pm: Warrior Writers info session and “Bridge Back Home from War,” a poetic theater performance by Jan Barry and Jenny Pacanowski

Participants

James Yee

James Yee James Yee is a graduate of West Point. He served as an air defense artillery officer during the First Gulf War, and then later as the U.S. Army Muslim Chaplain for the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay in 2003.

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Janet McIntosh

Janet McIntosh Janet McIntosh is Professor of Anthropology at Brandeis University. She is the author of two award-winning ethnographies based in East Africa and co-editor, with Norma Mendoza-Denton, of Language in the Trump Era. She is currently working on a book about American military language and the veterans who write poetry and work through other art forms to reckon with their military service.

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Jan Barry

Jan Barry Jan Barry is a poet, artist and author whose books include Waging Art: Tackling Grief and Trauma with Creative Arts, A Citizen’s Guide to Grassroots Campaigns, and (co-editor) Winning Hearts & Minds: War Poems by Vietnam Veterans. A U.S. Army veteran of Vietnam, he coordinates Warrior Writers workshops for veterans and family members in New Jersey. For more information: www.janbarry.net.

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Jenny Pacanowski

Jenny Pacanowski Jenny Pacanowski is the Founder and Director of Women Veterans Empowered & Thriving; a reintegration program that utilizes writing and performance to empower veterans to thrive in their daily life. She is also the Associate Director of Lucid Body’s Impact theatre which provides the opportunity to explore the theatre for social change. Jenny believes that partnerships and collaborations are the key to reintegration for veterans and their families. She travels to perform, speak, facilitate workshops and invites people to empower themselves from within their experiences and thrive! https://www.womenveteransempowered.org/ https://www.poetictheater.com/about-ptp/veteran-voices-main/ https://lucidbody.com/project/veterans-project/

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