The events of Sept. 11 have stirred an intense curiosity among students nationwide that has spilled over into numerous teach-ins and lectures at the University. The international studies department announced they will offer a full-term course on the issues surrounding Sept. 11 to further quench that thirst for knowledge.
The one-credit class, “In the Wake of September 11th: Issues and Concerns,” will be offered next term in an attempt to study “issues concerning the U.S. relationship with the Islamic world and challenges within the Islamic world,” Anita Weiss, an international studies professor, said.
Weiss said she put together the class to teach students about a large and complex set of issues.
“I think most Americans know so little about the part of the world in which we are currently engaged in a military encounter,” she said.
Weiss said she will rely on a few outside speakers to give the class a more global scope. The class will cover political and economic issues in the Middle East.
Universities across the state with long-standing courses on the Middle East and terrorism are also seeing a great jump in interest in these topics post-Sept. 11.
Gary Perlstein, a professor of administration of justice at Portland State University has seen the demand for his class on terrorism grow so much that he offered a second section. He tries to make his class, “Perspectives on Terrorism,” a historic and theoretical discussion of terrorism, “but this year there is a lot more discussion on Afghanistan.”
PSU is also home to the nation’s first federally funded undergraduate program for Arabic language and area studies. The international studies program’s Middle East Studies Center, created in 1961, offers numerous courses in Middle East culture and politics.
At Oregon State University, Jonathan Katz has also seen increased enrollments in his “Islamic Civilization” courses. Katz, an associate professor of history at OSU, will teach a session at Weiss’ class next term.