{"id":1381,"date":"2015-09-14T13:10:06","date_gmt":"2015-09-14T18:10:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/library\/?p=1381"},"modified":"2015-09-14T13:10:06","modified_gmt":"2015-09-14T18:10:06","slug":"nations-divided-interactive-wall-at-ames","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/library\/nations-divided-interactive-wall-at-ames\/","title":{"rendered":"Nations Divided?: Interactive Wall at Ames"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"20150914_125647\"<\/a>Are nations constructed of arbitrary borders traced on a map, or are they more purposeful,\u00a0formed around kinships and collectives, representing common values, ideals, and\u00a0epistemologies? Can a nation or nations be truly united, or do the forces that shape human\u00a0meaning-making stem from the differences that parse us one from another?<\/p>\n

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The histories of nations and peoples are framed by divisions. This year the United States\u00a0will recognize the sesquicentennial of the conclusion of the Civil War, which saw this nation\u00a0divided and led to a loss of life unrivaled in our national history. The conclusion of this\u00a0conflict saw a period of Reconstruction and reunification, but historians have and continue\u00a0to question the degree to which the United States has ever been truly united from its\u00a0founding as an independent republic. Current political, cultural, social, and economic\u00a0fissures reify national divides in public opinion and lived experience. Many nations\u00a0experience a similar phenomenon of unity\/disunity as individuals seek authentic, lived\u00a0experiences that transcend national boundaries, loyalties, identities, histories, and\u00a0geographies.<\/p>\n

The theme of \u201cNation(s) Divided?\u201d invites us to cross, intersect, and transcend borderlands\u00a0in the ways we \"20150914_125703\"<\/a>think about others and ourselves by deconstructing notions of unity and\u00a0division, of nations and national identities. We invite all students, faculty, and staff to\u00a0explore the concepts and realities of \u201cNation(s) Divided?\u201d through the Interactive Wall at The Ames Library. Located in the southeast corner of the first floor, this space is available for faculty and students to share their course work or any other projects related to the IWU intellectual theme of “Nation(s) Divided?”.<\/p>\n

Within the world, global conversations are taking place around: immigration and\u00a0emigration, environment and human impact, threats and risks to global health, economic\u00a0and political instability, freedom of expression as it intersects with faith and religion, and\u00a0constructions of human identity and self-understanding, just to name a few. These\u00a0conversations have the potential to unite or to divide us as nations and as individuals, but\u00a0we have an opportunity to achieve mutual and holistic understanding through nuanced,\u00a0thoughtful exploration in the best tradition of the liberal arts.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Are nations constructed of arbitrary borders traced on a map, or are they more purposeful,\u00a0formed around kinships and collectives, representing common values, ideals, and\u00a0epistemologies? Can a nation or nations be truly united, or do the forces that shape human\u00a0meaning-making stem … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":500,"featured_media":1382,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ames-highlights"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/library\/files\/2015\/09\/20150914_125647.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/500"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1381"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1381\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1384,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1381\/revisions\/1384"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.iwu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}