Lecture, film screening, conversation, and panel featuring Seth Bernstein (filmmaker), Deborah Dash Moore (University of Michigan), Jennifer Friess (University of Michigan), Stephen Hartke (composer), Marian Krzyzowski (University of Michigan), Ruth Milkman (CUNY Graduate Center), Kate Rosenblatt (University of Michigan) and Ernestine Ruben (artist).

World War II’s impact reached beyond the battlefield, instigating profound social changes on the home front. In Ann Arbor the far-reaching effects of the GI Bill expanded higher education to an entire generation of men. In Willow Run female and African American workers joined defense production in unprecedented numbers. In Detroit racial, religious, and ethnic conflict threatened to tear the city apart. This symposium draws upon a lively mix of scholars, artists, and musicians who will explore the unprecedented mixing that characterized wartime America.

Additional support from the Bicentennial Office, Frankel Center for Judaic Studies, University of Michigan Museum of Art, Department of History, and Eisenberg Institute for Historical Studies.