This spring, students enrolled in the "War Trauma: A Historical Overview," an International Security Studies course, traveled to Washington, D.C. for a capstone engagement from April 9 to 12. The trip drew participants from all class years and integrated classroom instruction with experiential learning to examine the moral, legal, and human dimensions of war.
The capstone was led by Army War College Fellow at the O'Brien Notre Dame International Security Center (ONDISC) Emmitt M. Furner II, Ph.D., the course instructor, and Roger Larson, a Fellow in the Inspired Leadership Initiative. Together, they guided students through a series of institutional visits and structured engagements designed to connect the course's central themes to the institutions and spaces that define American military life.
Students received a briefing from the Office of the Chief Legislative Liaison at the Pentagon and took a guided and informal tours of congressional facilities on Capitol Hill. These tours provided students with firsthand exposure to the structures that shape U.S. military policy and civilian oversight. Students also interacted with active-duty service members from multiple branches, expanding their understanding of these leaders' real-world experiences in combat and at home.
The final academic event took place at Arlington National Cemetery, where the Paul G. Kimball Professor of Arts and Letters. Vittorio Hösle, led a discussion on Just War Theory. Grounding ethical frameworks in the physical reality of military sacrifice, the session placed the course's theoretical content in its most immediate and consequential setting.
Throughout all of these engagements, the capstone reinforced the course's central objective of understanding war as both a strategic and institutional phenomenon and a profoundly human experience defines by moral judgment, responsibility, and consequence.
ONDISC sincerely thanks Kenneth Heckel and the Office of Military and Veteran Affairs for their support in making this possible.