The war in Iraq is the inspiration for War Cry, a class offered for the first time this semester by the University Honors Program.
Instructor Margo Chavez-Charles designed the class to analyze justifications for war.
"When the U.S. entered the war, I wanted to know the reasons we entered," she said. "I wanted to know what war in general does to a society and the effects of war on an individual."
The class will look at war through literature such as the Illiad, Slaughterhouse Five and Catch 22.
Students will also read poetry and non-fiction and hear from guest speakers.
One speaker is a Buddhist monk who served in Vietnam.
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Chavez-Charles said she hopes to discuss the morality of war.
"I hope we have lots of heated discussions about when we are allowed to kill," she said.
She said she is trying to get across to students that they always have to stop and think before behaving violently.
She also said students will learn a lot about the history of different wars.
Marcail Moody-Burks signed up for the class because of the war in Iraq.
"It will be interesting to find out how America got involved in different wars," Moody-Burks said.
Ten students are signed up for class. Some said they signed up because they were interested in discussing war from a literary standpoint, while others wanted to learn students' different perspectives on war.
Senior Jerome Aigner said he signed up because he was interested in war, but had no background knowledge of it.
"I have a very narrow view of it," Aigner said. "I want to diversify my knowledge."
He said he wants to know why the United States entered certain wars and not others.
Aigner said he looks forward to intelligent discussions with people who have a wide range of viewpoints.
Chavez-Charles said the class will serve as a collective intelligence to answer people's personal war questions.
