2024 WPS Symposium: Elective Panel 3A - Art, Peace, and Security

ELECTIVE PANEL 3A: ART, PEACE, AND SECURITY
The Art of Perception: Seeing What Matters
Ms. Amy Herman, The Art of Perception, Inc.
The Art of Perception: Seeing What Matters is a professional development program that provides intelligence and military leaders tools to enhance perception and communication in assessment, surveillance, and critical response. In this highly participatory and visual presentation of works of art, participants revisit both the application of their perception skills and the ability to communicate concisely and effectively in exchanges of critical information. Specifically designed to address the role of perception and observation among teams, the training also emphasizes the importance of pattern recognition in honing situational awareness. Painting, sculpture, and photography are employed across cultural landscapes to dismantle biases and long-held assumptions that impede collective decision making and best practices. The overarching objective of The Art of Perception is to provide attendees with a renewed sense of critical inquiry and self-perception that is instrumental in both problem-solving strategies and initiatives to strengthen alliances.
The Power of Social Impact Storytelling
Ms. Beth Murphy, Principle Pictures
Explore the power of social impact storytelling in conflict and post-conflict societies with case studies of media campaigns that move audiences from outrage and inspiration to action. Highlighting violations of human rights and barriers to girls’ education, the presentation investigates the pioneering use of AI to anonymize identities in sensitive storytelling-a novel approach that safeguards vulnerable subjects while also raising unique ethical questions about the boundaries of responsible journalism to spark global awareness and drive positive social change.
Visibility and Voice: The Power of Museums
Ms. Cathleen Pearl, Military Women’s Memorial
The past fifty years have seen a shift in the U.S. museum landscape, often referred to as the “democratization” of museums. This shift demands a more nuanced understanding of our past and how we construct the present. Today’s museums reaffirm what it means to live in an open and free society by serving as forums encouraging inquiry, critical thinking, debate, and challenging the status quo.
As trusted cultural institutions guided by legal and ethical frameworks rooted in public service, museums are uniquely positioned to reach a broad range of audiences - from the general public to policy makers - inspiring appreciation for the complexities that shape historical and current events. Modern museum methodologies help facilitate a deeper understanding of the world, which is essential to our ability to imagine and work toward a better future. They also stand in stark opposition to non-democratic cultural environments under authoritarian rule.
Whose story is told (visibility) and who tells it (voice) are at the heart of a museum’s mission and essential to its power. By engaging in complex issues through diverse points of view, including perspectives that are often overlooked, museums serve as indispensable institutions where the maintenance of democracy can flourish.
Using the Military Women’s Memorial as a case study, Visibility and Voice will demonstrate the opportunities and sensitivities in how museum collections and programs, such as those at MWM and similar initiatives around the world, uphold democratic values and strengthen our national security capabilities at the intersection of WPS principles and museum practice.
The U.S. Naval War College (NWC) hosted the 10th iteration of its Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) Symposium onboard Naval Station Newport, May 2-3.
The symposium, themed “Advancing Gendered Security in a Complex World: Hard Power, Smart Power, Soft Power,” aimed to foster a shared understanding of the complex and dynamic global security environment through examination of women’s influence and experience as stakeholders and catalysts of change alongside men.