Kara Vuic, Bridgewater College
Barbara Bates Center for the Study of the History of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania
Time: 12:15 p.m.
Place: 2U Conference Room, Room 2019, Claire Fagin Hall
University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing
Abstract: In an era of changing gender norms, an evolving nursing profession, and a controversial war, the army recruited five thousand nurses for service in Vietnam. Drawing on more than one hundred interviews, Vuic will describe the challenges women faced as they joined the military, the struggles of men who pressed to be permanently added to the nurse corps, and the experiences of all nurses who endured the physical and emotional demands of a horrific war. Based on her new book, her talk will link these nurses to broader cultural debates about gender norms, the evolution of the nursing profession, and wartime roles for women and men.
Kara Vuic is Assistant Professor of History at Bridgewater College, Virginia.