Voices in Wartime: an acclaimed feature-length documentary now available on DVD. View the experience of war through powerful images and the words of poets, soldiers, journalists, historians and experts on combat from around the world. Learn how the experience of war extends beyond national borders and into the depth of the human soul. The Voices in Wartime Education Project is a package designed for high school and college students and their teachers. It includes:

Order the DVD and Anthology!

• DVD of the film: Voices in Wartime.
• Voices in Wartime Anthology: a book of poems, original essays, and narratives from the interviews conducted during the making of the film.
• Curriculum: five modules that use poetry, and indirectly history, other writings and the arts to teach about the legacy of conflict and war.
• Teacher Workshops to support educators in successfully introducing the film and curricula into high and college classrooms.

2-page Downloadable Description of the Education Project

Why an Education Project?

All of us - parents and children, soldiers and civilians, students and teachers - are affected by conflict in our lives that leads, on a collective level, to war. By understanding the mechanism of conflict, we may be able to move beyond the seeming inevitability of war. The Education Project offers tools, philosophies, and learning methods that will help young people understand the roots of conflict and the trauma of war, confront the pain and fear at the heart of conflict, and help to build healthy human communities in the wake of war.

Around the world, in neighborhoods and schoolyards, cities and countries, we can lay the basis for a more hopeful world by creating a new type of conversation in which all voices can be heard, and all points of view included, without engendering fear, hatred, or anger. Difference can lead to dialogue and growth rather than violence.

Partner to sponsor Teacher Workshops

The Voices in Wartime Film

All curricula modules in the series are an outgrowth of the film, Voices in Wartime, a documentary that uses poetry to move us to the emotion of war explained by soldiers, civilians, journalists and medical personnel who have experienced the effects of combat firsthand. And through the hearts and emotions of those who have stayed at home, observed vicariously and mourned the fallen.

The film Voices in Wartime gives the gut-wrenching experience of war a fresh perspective. It steps away to look at all wars–not just the conflicts currently in the news. The terrible beauty of the poetry is our guide, distilling the grim realities and diverse emotions of war. History and literature have shown us that in times of war, poets can lead us to greater truths and that the power of poetry can help us understand the trauma, violence and death caused by armed conflict.

In the film, as in the modules, poetry illuminates the reality. The reality observed in the documentary helps us to better understand the poetry. Together they sear the experience, emotions and sacrifices of war into our hearts and minds.

How to Use Voices of Wartime Education Project materials

Secondary school and college instructors can use all three components of the Voices in Wartime Education Project to inform and supplement their literature, arts and humanities and social studies offerings, or to structure new offerings for their departments.

For secondary teachers activities, questions, and research opportunities presented in the modules correspond directly to all twelve standards for English Language Arts as presented by the National Council of Teachers of English; selected standards for arts education as outlined in the National Standards for Art Education; and selected standards for the teaching of world history as outlined by The National Center for History in the Schools. These standards are addressed at the beginning of each of the modules.

It is recommended that the documentary Voices in Wartime be shown initially as a lead-in to working with the material in the modules, even if only one of the modules has been selected for study. If the module is to be used in conjunction with a specific theme, then it is appropriate to view the documentary at the beginning of the course of study and refer back to portions of the documentary that support the topics being engaged. For example, Voices in Wartime explores the works of British poets Owen and Sassoon in some detail. If the film was seen in its entirety either as an opening to studying war generally, or specifically studying British Literature, then only the section on British poets in the Great War module may be used in the classroom.

Note: The Voices in Wartime curricula is distributed by Two Careys Productions, LLC, in connection with the film Voices in Wartime.

Modular approach

The intent of the modules in the Voices in Wartime Education Project is not to offer a complete background to a war or conflict, but rather to begin to look at the experience of war through poetry and other writings—through the words of the unknown and world famous.

Each of the modules is thematic, self-contained as small booklets for direct use by teachers and students, and run between 50-150 pages. However, the first module, Discussion and Action Guide, is written specifically for the instructor’s use.

Comprehensive annotated bibliographies, including print, internet and film are included in each module and questions for reflection, directives for research and further investigation of themes, and individual and group activities enrich each of the modules.

The Modules

1. Discussion and Action Guide
   Explores background information on the documentary, Voices in Wartime, provides information on preparing for viewing the film, exploring the topics presented in the film, offers approaches for facilitating discussion of the documentary, and provides in-depth study questions for individual and group learning. In addition, a study format is proposed for using the film, modules and anthology in classroom teaching.  
2. Poetry in Wartime
   Includes a complete rendition of poetry from the documentary and explores the role of a poet as a social commentator. Questions for reflection, suggestions for research and activities on each of the poets included or mentioned in Voices in Wartime are provided. In addition, excerpts by several of the poets talking about the nature of poetry, the role of a poet in a time of war, the importance of writing as a tool to deal with emotional, as well as physical healing. 
3. The Great War
   Opens with background information on the First World War. In some instances, original documentation has been included to help provide a different perspective than may be offered in more traditional textbooks. While the reasons for the world going into war between1914-1919 are enormously complex, a background synopsis is provided to help the reader/student begin to establish a point of historical reference. Maps have also been included to help support the text. 
4. US Wars in Asia
   Includes extensive selections of poetry from both sides of both the Korean and Vietnam Wars, and much original material documenting the history, background, and outcomes of the war. The module includes a more exhaustive bibliography of material on the Vietnam War to appear in any curricula previously available.

Throughout these modules there are suggestions for "Further Research and Investigation," intended to help the student to view the war in a more holistic way, and demonstrate the complexity of the topics that are included in the module. Further research and investigation also lends itself nicely to group and team work. Dividing the questions and suggested topics among students will allow for a more complete representation of the theme being explored once it is completed.