On Wednesday, Feb. 13, the Contra Wars Legacy slideshow will be showing at the Hillsboro Health campus. The event will begin at noon in Creighton Hall. The Contra Slideshow is a part of a northwestern book tour, promoting the new release of Nicaragua: Surviving the Legacy of U.S. Policy, written and photographed by Paul Dix and Pam Fitzpatrick.
“They have also visited Seattle Colleges and the University of Portland. It’s all about them telling the story of the lives that were effected by the Civil War in Nicaragua,” said Political Science Professor Jim Moore.
In 1985 Dix spent five years in Nicaragua as a photojournalist toward the end of the wars and during the time that followed. Dix and Fitzpatrick came back to Nicaragua in 2002 and found the same subjects he had documented 20 years prior. During the time of the war the U.S. was deeply involved in the Civil War, much like it is now in Iraq and Afghanistan, although troop involvement was much more secretive.
“It was so long ago many young people have no idea what even happened, even though it was as big of an issue as Iraq and Afghanistan are now,” said Moore. “One great thing that will come out of the tour is that people will have to remember what happened.”
The event is open to anyone who would like attend and has a significant piece to offer students of all educational backgrounds as the subject matter combines public health, social science, Latin America, economic development issues, and U.S. Foreign Policy in the presentation. The slideshow also aims to speak to the artist because of the rich composition in the photographs.
“I will be particularly fascinated to see how The Master Students’ of the Science School will react to the issues they talk about in the slideshow. Science minds react so differently than, say, social science or art minds. Fitzpatrick is a master of Public Health so it will be interesting to see that side of it,” said Moore.
Nicaragua: Surviving the Legacy of U.S. Foreign Policy features roughly 100 follow-up photographs of the survivors of the war. Photographs were taken by Dix with writing by Fitzpatrick. Moore expects it to be both informative and inspiring.
“I’m hoping students will go to learn the information itself but, in the process, they will learn one way you can put a liberal arts education to work in the world,” said Moore.
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