The Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute (HRI) held a presentation and discussion led by Associate Professor Scott Wallace about his new book and past experiences in Central America on Tuesday, March 11.
“Central America in the Crosshairs of War: On the Road from Vietnam to Iraq,” released in November 2024, illustrates Wallace’s time in multiple countries during the 1980s through photos and text, much of which details violence fueled by United States funding during the Cold War. The event, in the Dodd Center for Human Rights at the University of Connecticut, ended with a reception where students and faculty could purchase signed copies of Wallace’s book.
Wallace was introduced by Kathryn Libal, director of the HRI. Co-sponsors of the event included UConn’s El Instituto, the Department of Journalism, the Humanities Institute, the Office of Global Affairs and the Research Program on the Arts & Human Rights within the HRI.
Wallace spoke about his time reporting on the ground in El Salvador and Nicaragua, among other locations. The topics were a blend of underrepresented history, foreign relations and autobiography, such as the conflicting relationship Wallace had with his employers, including Newsweek and CBS. The latter financed him and his crew a Mitsubishi Lancer, yet they chose to not run a story Wallace and his coworkers risked their lives to cover.
Following the presentation, Wallace was joined by Francisco Goldman, a journalist and novelist who Wallace met in Nicaragua in the ‘80s. Questions were first relayed to Wallace and Goldman by Associate Professor Alexis Boylan. Then, the floor opened to audience members for a short Q&A session before the book signing commenced.
Sophia Birnbaum, a sixth-semester journalism and English student, said, “My biggest takeaway was just how important media coverage is in secluded areas that aren’t exactly getting the full scope of coverage that they’re supposed to.”
After reflecting on how the news publications Wallace was working for chose to not run his stories, Birnbaum said, “It goes to show how deeply important it is to have people that are willing to go out there, willing to go in these incredibly treacherous environments to report.”
Amanda McCard, an eighth-semester journalism and environmental science student, enjoyed many aspects of Wallace’s story and presentation, including “his method of storytelling and the immersion and the amount of time he spent fully immersing himself in the regions he was covering.”
“He did a really thorough job and incorporated a lot of unconventionally creative methods of storytelling to kind of convey things that traditional media wasn’t,” added McCard.
Wallace himself spoke with The Daily Campus during his book signing. “I would say that journalism is a vital profession with an incredibly rich array of rewards and challenges, and I made the decision to become a journalist after I realized that I was fascinated by writing, photography, storytelling and travel and adventure,” he said.
“Too often, I think, today, students are afraid of exploring their passions and feel the pressure to get into a quote-unquote ‘lucrative or steady, secure position,’ and you don’t have to leave college knowing exactly what you’re going to do. So, take time to explore,” said Wallace.