Utilizing an interdisciplinary approach, multiple LMU courses have engaged with material related to the Digital Veterans Legacy Project. This includes professors and students in the fields of philosophy, psychology, and African American studies. Examples of the courses are found in the sections below.
Daoism and Mindset
LMU Philosophy Professor Dr. Robin Wang teaches a seminar for first-year students, Dao and Growth Mindset (FYS 1000).
The course explores a range of philosophical issues to enhance students' successes in class, college and life. This course has actively engaged in the LDVL by focusing on documenting the lives of underrepresented, less known veterans, particularly Chinese and Japanese Americans, interred in the Los Angeles National Cemetery (LANC). This hand-on work inspires students to identify, explore, write and create digital media of the rich histories of these veterans, developing a toolkit for the public to research, document and memorialize the contributions of Asian American veterans made to the American story; creating a public digital archive that uses best practices in digital media.
Through the seminar’s lens, students wrote essays and/or made audio-visual material for the Digital Veterans Legacy Project.
Featured Student Works
- “Veteran Video”
- “The Life and Legacy of Albert Fong Chan”
- “Akio Kai”
- “Veteran Collage Project: Shioji Jimmy Koshida”
- “World War I Veteran Din Wong”
- “Edward Yee: Chinese American Soldier in Vietnam War”
- “The Life of Japanese-American soldier Toll Okazaki”
- “The Untold Story of Som Quong Wong”
Strange Loops
LMU Philosophy Professor Brad Stone invited students to write Strange Loop essays that mention the Los Angeles National Cemetery. Students wrote about either two places and two things, or two places and people – one of whom is M.C. Escher. Dr. Stone’s all-caps instruction to his class: “DO NOT BE BORING.”
Read the full assignment description
Featured Student Works
- "People and Places - Understanding Chaos to Appreciate Order"
- "People and Places - The Beauty of Death"
- "People and Places - The Demolition of Criticism for The Achievement of Unity"
- "People and Places - Dead Men Make No Change"
- "People and Places - The Handoff"
- "Places and Things - History is Not Always Where You Expect to Find It, Just Analyze"
- "Places and Things - Versatility, Diversity, and Inclusivity"
- "Places and Things - Speaking with Silence"
Community Psychology
Psychology professor Dr. Diana Santacruz integrated the Digital Veterans legacy Project (DVLP) project into Community Psychology at LMU. She created an assignment that asks students to write a “narrative ecological biography” for a Buffalo Soldier veteran interred at the Los Angeles National Cemetery. Ecological Theory, the study of individuals in social context, is a core concept in Community Psychology and this assignment provided an example of how a particular soldier’s story can be understood more fully by examining social contexts.