Veterans Program

Are you a military veteran or the family member of one? If so, we want to hear from you!
In an effort to provide meaningful programming to those who have served, SDHC seeks input from our veterans.

So that we can better serve those who have served, please provide us with your ideas and/or suggestions by completing our survey.

Commemorating Warrior Wellness Week
at South Dakota State University

To honor our military veterans and commemorate Warrior Wellness Week at South Dakota State University, SDHC is proud to announce a workshop available to all military veterans and their families. The workshop – entitled “Emotional Wellness through Storytelling: Connecting to Characters”- will be centered around reading and discussion and will be held at Veterans’ Affairs Resource Office in Brown Hall, Room 134, on Wednesday, February 26th, from 3:00 – 5:00 PM. We hope you’ll join us!

SDHC Sponsoring FREE Veterans’ Writing Workshops

The South Dakota Humanities Council offers a series of writing workshops to connect veterans throughout the state.

Following are the primary goals of the workshops:

To connect veterans with others who have shared similar life experiences
To provide a welcoming and comfortable place for veterans to “tell their stories”
To create a collection of stories that can be shared with a broader audience
To provide a platform for veterans to engage in lifelong learning through writing

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THE VETERANS WRITING WORKSHOPS

SDHC Scholar Amber Jensen will facilitate the Brookings workshops. Jensen teaches in the School of English and Interdisciplinary Studies at South Dakota State University. She teaches writing with an emphasis on the genres of creative nonfiction and poetry. Her memoir, The Smoke of You: A Memoir of Love During & After Deployment, focuses on how her husband’s military service has influenced her family. She has worked with military families to encourage the sharing of experiences to better understand the significant impacts of war in our culture.

SDHC Scholar Molly Barari will facilitate the Rapid City workshops. Barari holds a Doctorate in Adult Education from the University of South Dakota and an MFA in Creative Writing from Wilkes University. She has extensive experience teaching writing, including the Heirlooms: Creative Life Writing Workshop, in which she provides writing prompts that encourage participants to record life memories through sensory detail. This type of writing allows participants to process and make meaning of past events and connects them with others through sharing and listening protocols.

Please check back regularly for an updated schedule for Spring 2025.

To register for the FREE workshops, visit https://sdhumanities.wufoo.com/forms/xoroj2l1xx13ej/.

Registration will remain open on a rolling basis.

For more information, please contact SDHC at (605) 688-6113.

SD Department of Veterans Affairs – Upcoming Events

The South Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs has shared a schedule of events directed at honoring our veterans and their families. Click here for the full schedule.