Think World War II concentration camps. Think Cambodian killing fields. Now think Rwandan genocide. In this week’s special issue on coping, University of Chicago sociology PhD candidate Rachel Rinaldo‘s story Genocide’s deadly residue details the courageous life of one survivor and the various ways in which Rwanda and its citizens are coping with orphaned children, a high HIV rate among women survivors, and an uncertain justice system — amongst other grave concerns — following the traumatic aftermath of the mass killings of April 1994.

Meanwhile, as we reflect on the Rwandan genocide, ITF Contributing Writer Jairus Victor Grove takes philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy’s book War, Evil and the End of History OFF THE SHELF and asks why some atrocities make headlines, while others, such as the unfolding genocide in the Sudan, are left in the dark in Sudan and the wars that history left behind.

But you don’t have to cross U.S. borders to uncover unenviable battles and admirable stories of perseverence. Other courageous tales of coping come from people like Hildie Block, who writes about the slow onslaught of multiple sclerosis — the same disease that killed her father — in her essay The specter, and Marley Seaman, who describes a close college friend’s struggles with his chemotherapy treatments in Stealing his veins. Meanwhile, a young boy diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) just tries to make it through the day in Sun-A Kim‘s photo essay A good day for Grant: Living with ADHD.  For a fictional look at coping, check out ITF Contributing Editor Sierra Prasada Millman‘s review of The Pearl Diver, Jeff Talarigo’s debut novel about a Japanese woman living with leprosy, in Destroyer of myths.

On a lighter note, ITF Contributing Writer Russell Cobb finds that coping doesn’t always have to involve death or disease. In his essay Mad dog and glory, Cobb illuminates the sometimes funny cultural differences between playing American football while living in Paris versus playing American football as a kid in Oklahoma.

And, as always, our beloved cartoonists Tak Toyoshima and Mikhaela Reid bring us a good laugh with their comic strips.

Stay tuned for more: On Monday, September 20, we’ll publish provocative pieces penned by our columnists, Afi-Odelia E. Scruggs and Henry Belanger, as well as a photography essay on Brazilian cowboys by Alexandra Copley.

Thanks for reading. We hope you had a wonderful extended weekend!

Laura Elizabeth Pohl
Art Director
Columbia, Missouri

Laura Pohl