Overview

In today's volunteer military many recruits enlist for the educational benefits, yet a significant number of veterans struggle in the classroom, and many drop out. The difficulties faced by student veterans have been attributed to various factors: poor academic preparation, PTSD and other postwar ailments, and allegedly antimilitary sentiments on college campuses. In Grateful Nation Ellen Moore challenges these narratives by tracing the experiences of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans at two California college campuses. Drawing on interviews with dozens of veterans, classroom observations, and assessments of the work of veteran support organizations, Moore finds that veterans' academic struggles result from their military training and combat experience, which complicate their ability to function in civilian schools. While there is little evidence of antimilitary bias on college campuses, Moore demonstrates the ways in which college programs that conflate support for veterans with support for the institutional military lead to suppression of campus debate about the wars, discourage antiwar activism, and encourage a growing militarization.

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9780822369097

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Reviews

In this extremely well-written book, Ellen Moore sensitively and movingly portrays the experience of veterans and their challenges in higher education (and beyond) with the help of veterans' own powerful reflections on their experiences. Documenting the role of academic institutions and the U.S. military in the production of a militarized common sense, as well as broader attitudes about war and the military, she illustrates the subtle and generally little-noticed militarization of colleges and universities in an era of perpetual post-9/11 warfare. -- David Vine, author of Base Nation: How US Military Bases Abroad Harm American and the World Grateful Nation provides a deeply informed and fine-grained ethnographic account of the educational challenges facing veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Ellen Moore's exemplary work will require scholars, administrators, and policy-makers to rethink their assumptions about veterans' education and the reasons why so many student veterans struggle in the classroom. With its clear and compelling prose, this book will encourage dialogue in the classroom and improve the campus climate for veterans. -- Roberto J. Gonzalez, author of Militarizing Culture: Essays on the Warfare State

Grateful Nation provides a deeply informed and fine-grained ethnographic account of the educational challenges facing veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Ellen Moore's exemplary work will require scholars, administrators, and policymakers to rethink their assumptions about veterans' education and the reasons why so many student veterans struggle in the classroom. With its clear and compelling prose, this book will encourage dialogue in the classroom and improve the campus climate for veterans. -- Roberto J. Gonzalez, author of * Militarizing Culture: Essays on the Warfare State * In this extremely well-written book, Ellen Moore sensitively and movingly portrays the experience of veterans and their challenges in higher education (and beyond) with the help of veterans' own powerful reflections on their experiences. Documenting the role of academic institutions and the U.S. military in the production of a militarized common sense, as well as broader attitudes about war and the military, she illustrates the subtle and generally little-noticed militarization of colleges and universities in an era of perpetual post-9/11 warfare. -- David Vine, author of * Base Nation: How U.S. Military Bases Abroad Harm America and the World *

Through extensive work with hundreds of veterans and a detailed investigation into veterans in college, Ellen Moore has powerfully illuminated and analyzed the ways the military has strategically positioned itself in US society. She has done something unique and powerful in the scholarship of war and peace-a work that should be broadly disseminated and debated. -- Rick Ayers * Huffington Post * Reflexively mythologizing veterans allows Americans to avert their gaze from wars fought in their name. In this subtle and sophisticated book, Ellen Moore challenges readers to take the experience of our veterans seriously. Doing so may provide a first step toward finding an antidote to militarism. -- Andrew J. Bacevich, Professor Emeritus of International Relations and History, Boston University Grateful Nation provides a deeply informed and fine-grained ethnographic account of the educational challenges facing veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Ellen Moore's exemplary work will require scholars, administrators, and policymakers to rethink their assumptions about veterans' education and the reasons why so many student veterans struggle in the classroom. With its clear and compelling prose, this book will encourage dialogue in the classroom and improve the campus climate for veterans. -- Roberto J. Gonzalez, author of * Militarizing Culture: Essays on the Warfare State * In this extremely well-written book, Ellen Moore sensitively and movingly portrays the experience of veterans and their challenges in higher education (and beyond) with the help of veterans' own powerful reflections on their experiences. Documenting the role of academic institutions and the U.S. military in the production of a militarized common sense, as well as broader attitudes about war and the military, she illustrates the subtle and generally little-noticed militarization of colleges and universities in an era of perpetual post-9/11 warfare. -- David Vine, author of * Base Nation: How U.S. Military Bases Abroad Harm America and the World *

Author Information

Ellen Moore is a visiting scholar at the Institute for the Study of Societal Issues at the University of California, Berkeley.

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