Despite a University request that professors try to incorporate the Sept. 11 anniversary into their Wednesday classes, the extent to which the commemoration became a topic of class discussion varied greatly.
When University officials decided not to cancel classes for the anniversary of the attacks, they encouraged faculty members to integrate the day into discussions but also gave professors total liberty in doing so. The results ranged from complete dedication of class time to not even a mention of Sept. 11.
At one extreme was Professor of Political Science Peter Feaver, who dedicated his Political Science 93 international relations' class time and space to a political science forum, in which he and three other professors spoke to an audience of over 200. (See story, page 4).
"Academics can often tend to be removed from the world, but if a university is doing its job right, it prepares students to engage in the world," Feaver said. "In a university setting, multiple disciplines have different angles and contributions to make."
Subject matter often determined the level of discussion about the attacks. While Feaver admitted his subject material easily lent itself to the day, he said such discussions would be valuable from all disciplines, from physics to religion.
Like Feaver, some professors found the anniversary easily added into their classes. Associate Professor of Public Policy Studies and History Robert Korstad incorporated Sept. 11 into his discussion of Immanuel Kant and absolute moral laws in his class on ethics and public policy. They discussed issues such as whether the terrorists' actions were immoral and if the victims should be compensated.
"The students had a lot of different opinions about the many moral issues surrounding 9/11," Korstad wrote in an e-mail. "The discussion was more sophisticated than most of what is on [television]."
Other classes, particularly sciences and mathematics, found Sept. 11 more difficult to include in discussion. Paula Lemons, assistant professor of the practice of biology, observed a moment of silence at the beginning of class, but then proceeded as normal.
Still others avoided the topic out of fear of trivializing it. "I thought about it, but I couldn't think of a tasteful way of integrating it into class," said Assistant Research Professor of Mathematics Owen Patashnick. "It seemed more appropriate to let everybody remember Sept. 11 as he or she saw fit."
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