The Warrior Chorus – Arts and Humanities in Action (2015-2017) was a national initiative that trained veterans to present innovative public programs to Americans based on classical literature and how it speaks to us today.
- it intensively trained veterans in three regional centers (New York City, Austin, and Los Angeles) over a ten-week program to present veteran and scholar-led public programming at 20 cultural centers.
- it usesed classical texts to inspire people to reflect on the connections between the works of the ancient Greeks and the issues they reflect in their own lives.
- it brought members of the public together with the American veteran community to experience live stagings, readings, workshops, lectures, and discussions.
- it provided a rich contextual frame for ancient literature to inspire in-depth public discussions about war, conflict, comradeship, country, home, family, injuries, work, politics – themes every American should have the opportunity to reflect upon as informed citizens in a vibrant democracy
This extensive new program unites the assets of:
The Aquila Theatre Company, the Society for Classical Studies (SCS), the Society of Artistic Veterans in New York (SocArtVets), the Center for Ancient Studies at New York University (NYU), the Heyman Center for the Humanities at Columbia University, The Classics Departments of the University of Texas at Austin (UT), and the University of Southern California in Los Angeles (USC).
four thematic units each anchored by an ancient work:
These units will explored significant humanities themes that investigated the connections between classical literature and contemporary America as they relate to the issues affecting the veteran community and the broader American public.
The two central tenets of The Warrior Chorus are:
The programming was performed by veterans assisted by scholars.
Members of the chorus developed their own area of artistic/humanities interest within the program.