The Things We Carried

November 11 - November 15, 2013 / AACC Library 

“The Things We Carried” offered a glimpse of life during deployment with a showcase of photos, artwork and objects from past and present wars. Prints on loan from the National Veterans Museum were also featured.

Members of the Student Veterans Association at UIC collected and curated objects from their peers. Their questions elicited descriptions of the makeup, function and personal symbolic meanings of objects such as helmets, backpacks, uniforms, pocket bibles and camouflage netting.

The Things We Carried

Several members of the Student Veterans Association at UIC were on site at selected times during the installation and offered guided tours and interpretations of the display objects and selected images. The exhibit is inspired by Tim O’Brien’s 1990 book, “The Things They Carried,” a collection of related stories about a platoon of American soldiers in the Vietnam War.