The National Endowment for the Humanities approved a $100,000 grant spread over three years to help Arizona State University launch its new "Veterans, Service, and Society" certificate program, administrators announced today. 

ASU’s Office for Veteran and Military Academic Engagement submitted a proposal to the NEH to help move forward with a program designed to raise understanding of U.S. military veterans beyond commonly held stereotypes.  The 18-credit-hour undergraduate certificate will be dedicated solely to the study of veterans, military culture and how it relates to society.

“This is a wonderful affirmation to our planning and now implementation of the first courses to be offered,” said Nancy Dallett, associate director with OVMAE.

The first courses to be offered during the upcoming fall 2018 and spring 2019 semesters include “Veterans, Society and Service: America’s Experience of Modern War,” “Representations and Self-Representations of Veterans in the Media and the Arts,” and a research methodology course and internship.

Despite most people having great respect for servicemen and –women, the current divide between military and civilian cultures is deep and often results in misunderstandings.

“The media is flooded with representations of veterans as either homeless ‘head cases,’ or as heroes who are placed on a pedestal,” said Mark von Hagen, history professor and director of OVMAE. “Both are shallow binary portrayals, rendering society unable to make space for conversation.”

Von Hagen affirms the coursework will not be stale or drab and will address issues such as civil-military relations, the role of the armed forces in a changing society in areas of class, gender, civil rights and LGBTQ issues.  It will also pose questions such as: What are society’s obligations for veterans and families, and how do they transition through health care, higher education, employment and continued service?

Dallett and von Hagen are available for media interviews.  

For more information on ASU’s veteran and military programs, visit https://military.asu.edu.

About ASU

Arizona State University has developed a new model for the American Research University, creating an institution that is committed to access, excellence and impact. ASU measures itself by those it includes, not by those it excludes. As the prototype for a New American University, ASU pursues research that contributes to the public good, and ASU assumes major responsibility for the economic, social and cultural vitality of the communities that surround it.

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