U.S. Waging Cold War in 1980s Central America: History Through the Lens of a Frontline Reporter

April 21, 2026
12:00pm - 1:00pm

This talk by award winning winning writer and photographer, Scott Wallace, accompanied by the author’s photographs, offers a gripping frontline view of a war reporter’s quest for truth amid a landscape of death and deception, rich in storytelling and abiding relevance in today’s world.

Scott Wallace is an award-winning writer and photographer who covers armed conflict, the environment, and vanishing cultures in volatile frontier regions around the world. Formerly a correspondent in Latin America for CBS News, "Newsweek," and "The Guardian," he is the author of the award-winning photographic and narrative memoir, "Central America in the Crosshairs of War: On the Road from Vietnam to Iraq," and the "New York Times" bestseller, "The Unconquered: In Search of the Amazon’s Last Uncontacted Tribes," based on his firsthand experiences trekking through the land of an uncontacted Indigenous group deep in the Brazilian jungle. His written work has also appeared in "National Geographic," "National Geographic Adventure," the "New York Times," "Washington Post," "Harper’s," and "Smithsonian," among many others. His photography is represented by Getty Images and has been published in newspapers and magazines throughout the world. Currently an associate professor of journalism at the University of Connecticut, he is a graduate of Yale University and the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

“Scott Wallace’s 'Central America in the Crosshairs of War; on the Road from Vietnam to Iraq' is really several books at once that cohere into a magnificent whole. It is the evocative, at times nostalgic, at others harrowing, personal account of a young journalist’s coming of age during his first foreign journalism assignment, always keenly observant and thoughtful.” — "ReVista: Harvard Review of Latin America"