There's more to Case Western Reserve University than medicine and engineering. There's also more to war than what is on the news. That's the case Peter Knox, director of the Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities, wants to make with the Cleveland Humanities Festival April 1-10, which explores war's societal and cultural impacts. "We have the possibility to carry on conversations about subjects of important topical interest to the community from a perspective of the humanities," says Knox. We highlight two of the week's events.
Monuments men: An April 2 Lolly the Trolley tour explores war memorial sites such as the Smoky and Dogs of All Wars Memorial in the Cleveland Metroparks Rocky River Reservation, which honors a Yorkshire terrier found in a jungle foxhole during World War II. "It was a surprise to me that there's a memorial to a dog," says Knox.
Culture shock: In her April 5 talk, Pakistani novelist Kamila Shamsie discusses how war has cost the world important pieces of cultural heritage. "As someone from a part of the world that has experienced this kind of cultural devastation, it will be particularly evocative," says Knox.
