As the war in Iraq continues, so does the stream of soldiers returning home.

With that in mind, and remembering how many Vietnam War veterans were given a cold greeting by the American public on their return from duty, Hampshire College professor Robert E. Meagher is organizing a four-week program of speakers, film documentaries, a play and photo exhibit beginning at the end of March. It's called "Nostoi - Stories of War and Return: From Troy to Iraq."

"As a society, we have to listen to our veterans and find how to create a community that unites a community that is divided by the war," Meagher said Friday. "We can't be a community divided over welcoming the veterans who fought in the war."

Meagher, who teaches ancient epic drama and religion, is using ancient literature, particularly stories from the Trojan War, as a central theme in the project. He said Homer's "The Odyssey" and "The Iliad" have been used by therapists and others to help war veterans talk about their experiences, with "The Odyssey" addressing the return home from war and "The Iliad" about war itself.

"What I have found is that ancient stories can provoke our stories," Meagher said.

Veterans from Iraq are not only returning home to families and jobs, they're returning to local college campuses. Meagher said there are about 200 veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts attending classes at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. In many cases, these students are shunned by other students because they've gone to war, Meagher said.

"We're facing this issue right now," he said. "What we need in the valley is compassion to endure this together. Only by listening will we understand."

At least a dozen national speakers are scheduled to participate in the program, which should begin the last week in March and continue for about four weeks. Speakers will include veterans, educators, a psychiatrist, a poet, military professionals, a journalist, an author and a playwright. Six documentaries dealing with veterans returning from war will also be shown, along with a play performed by Hampshire College students, and an exhibit of Pulitzer Prize-winning photos of Iraq.

Hampshire is collaborating with the Veterans Education Project, the other four colleges in the Five College system, the American Friends Service Committee, Five Colleges Incorporated, Greenfield Community College and Holyoke Community College.

Sponsorships for the project are being sought. Anyone who would like to contribute to the program can contact Meagher at rmeagher@hampshire.edu

A partial list of speakers is available at www.hampshire.edu

"This is completely nonpartisan," Meagher said. "The aim is to get people together, no matter whether they're pro-war or anti-war, and to bring them together into the same room and discuss how we can get this right."