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UAS hosts Anti-War Poetry Event and Film Screening of "Sir! No Sir!" in conjunction with Waging Peace in Vietnam exhibit

Next Friday UAS will host a symposium and closing reception for the exhibit, although it will remain on display in the UAS Egan Library through Friday, December 15.

Juneau, Alaska

Date of Press Release: November 28, 2022

The University of Alaska Southeast (UAS) exhibit Waging Peace in Vietnam continues through December 15 in the Egan Library. The following events will take place this week, on Thursday, December 1 and Saturday, December 3. The exhibit and all events are free and open to the public. Join us this week for two events, "Anti-War Poetry and Story Sharing with Veteran Poets" and "Sir! No Sir! Screening and Story Sharing".

Anti-War Poetry and Story Sharing with Veteran Poets

  • Thursday, December 1 from 1:30–3 p.m., Egan Wing (+Livestream)
  • Free catered lunch provided
  • A livestream will be available through our YouTube channel.

Featuring poetry by US veterans, Vietnamese veterans and Vietnamese civilians, the event will explore the role of poetry and creative writing in trauma and recovery. Moderated by UAS Professor of English Kevin Maier. Poets Doug Rawlings and Teresa Mei Chuck will participate via Zoom.

Poets Doug Rawlings and Teresa Mei Chuc recently collaborated to publish Cầu Tre (Bamboo Bridge) Conversations between a Vietnamese Refugee and an American Veteran which is told in poetry and prose. Doug Rawlings was drafted in 1968 and was in Viet Nam from July 1969 to August 1970. He is a co-founder of Veterans for Peace. In addition to Cầu Tre (Bamboo Bridge), he is also the editor of Letters to the Wall, three collections of 500 letters written to the Viet Nam Memorial. Teresa Mei Chuc was born in Saigon, Viet Nam. She fled her homeland with her mother and brother shortly after the war. She served as the Altadena Poet Laureate (Altadena, CA) from 2018 to 2020. Her new poetry chapbook Incidental Takes, is forthcoming from Hummingbird Press in the spring of 2023. She teaches literature and writing at a public high school in Los Angeles.

Sir! No Sir! Screening and Story Sharing

  • Saturday, December 3 from 12:30–3 p.m., Egan Wing (+Livestream)
  • Free catered lunch provided
  • A livestream will be available through our YouTube channel.

This film brings to life the history of the GI movement through the stories of those who were a part of it, and reveals the explosion of defiance to which the movement gave birth, with never-before-seen archival material. Director David Zeiger will participate over Zoom following the screening for discussion and story sharing.

Zeiger has been making documentary films and series for 25 years. He received a 2010 Guggenheim Fellowship. Sir! No Sir! ran theatrically in 65 cities throughout the US and Canada, and was broadcast in 200 countries worldwide.

Symposium & Closing Reception

Next Friday UAS will host a symposium and closing reception for the exhibit, although it will remain on display in the UAS Egan Library through Friday, December 15. Student awards for the essay contest will be presented at the reception. Read more about the exhibit and related events on our Waging Peace in Vietnam event page.

Additional Resources

Press Release Contact

Keni Campbell
University of Alaska Southeast
(907) 796-6509
[email protected]