SOMERS - A University of Wisconsin professor is opening his classroom to the public this month, to hear stories about the Iraq War from peace activists, an Iraqi refugee and a military journalist.

Jonathan Shailor is teaching a narrative analysis class focusing on stories of the Iraq War. Students have studied the stories of American troops and their families, of Iraqi residents and refugees, political players and documentary films.

"(This looks) at their approach to the war through story," Shailor said. "It's not just about where we are but where do we go from here."

Opening these class sessions up to the greater community, Shailor said, will give nonstudents a chance to hear the stories that will be shared.

On Nov. 17, several members of a group called Code Pink will come to UW-Parkside to speak with students about their position on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"It's why we feel the way we feel, why we feel we can be against the war and still be patriots, why we support the soldiers but would like to see the war end," said Pat Hunt, a co-coordinator for Code Pink in the Chicago area, who is among those coming to Parkside. "We can have a dialogue with perhaps a different point of view."

Hunt said the organization started in 2003, and is a takeoff of the terror alert system.

"The thought process of (the founders) was that the (George W.) Bush administration was promoting fear, and that we should just have code pink for 'Everything's OK,' " Hunt said.

Along with members of Code Pink will be an Iraqi refugee, Fatima Hindi, who Hunt said had to leave Baghdad with her infant daughter. Now, Hunt said, Hindi is in the United States, teaching Arabic classes and working with the Refugee Center for Hope, helping other Iraqi refugees.

Sgt. Sara Roeske, deputy director of public affairs for the Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs, will speak on Nov. 19. She spent a year in Iraq and recently returned from a year in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

In Iraq, she said, she went out with units in the northern area of operations, and created video pieces about what soldiers and other service members were doing to rebuild infrastructure in the area. The product was then marketed to news stations worldwide, she said. She did similar work in Guantanamo, she said, with stories on service members and on detainees.

"It seems as though the stories we produce don't really make it out into mainstream media," she said. "But at the same time the stories, they're still out there and they are available for people to use and see what's going on from the soldiers' perspective and not from a mass media organization's perspective."