The University of Tennessee Center for the Study of War and Society Almost 50 years after V-J day, we are not done with World War II. More than a decade after the last marines left the roof of our embassy in Saigon, we still weep at the Vietnam Memorial. Our feelings are ambivalent. If we have served in combat, we may have nightmares, yet remember our experience as the most intense and important of our lives. If we remain at home, we fear for family members, but we may be more comfortable because of war-generated economic prosperity. "If this (lousy) war only lasts two more years, I'll have it made for life," said a Memphis plant worker in 1943. (James Jones, WWII, p. 82) We are fascinated by war, and our fascination has led to many popular and scholarly studies of war primarily "from the top down": policies, outcomes, memoirs of the leaders. Study of war "from the bottom up," however, its effects on enlisted personnel, junior officers, and their families, has not been adequately explored. To answer this need, the Center for the Study of War and Society at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, investigates the complex interrelationships between war and society, but especially the impact on individuals. Not restricted to the study of one war or one period, the Center already has a strong base as a result of the ongoing World War II Veterans Project. This effort, directed by the Center's head, Professor Charles Johnson, has since 1984 collected primary materials about WWII from over 200 men and women throughout the country, but especially from the South. The compilation of letters, diaries, logs, photos, scrapbooks, taped interviews, unit histories and other materials already constitutes a substantial base for scholarship. The Center is based in the history department, but draws expertise from UTK scholars in other fields, among them, political science, sociology, economics, anthropology, geography, English, philosophy and religious studies. Activities of the Center: * continuing assembly of primary materials * conferences bringing together participants to share their wartime experiences and record them for later study * audio and video interviews with veterans to acquire data that would otherwise be lost * lecture and symposia drawing on academics and other scholars concerned with military/social issues * publiciation of monographs based on the Center's collection and activities * stimulate interests of undergraduate and graduate students Special Areas of Interest: * impact of the military experience on individuals * veterans affairs * black veterans * war's effects on women * The South, Tennessee, and the military Carol Bell University of Tennessee-Knoxville Office of University Relations News Center Phone: 615-974-0128 E-Mail: (the center does not have e-mail but I can forward queries) carolb@novell.ur.utk.edu Snail Mail: Center for the Study of War and Society, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Dr. Charles Johnson, Director, 220 Hoskins Library, Knoxville, TN 37996-4000 Contact: Dr. Charles Johnson or John McManus Carol Bell University of Tennessee-Knoxville Office of University Relations News Center