Reflecting on six months since the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Georgetown experts agree that the political, security and ethical issues surrounding the attacks have reinforced important issues of international relations and cross-cultural communication on campus without changing the fundamental issues previously discussed.
Professor of Security Studies Timothy Hoyt affirmed that the attacks should be a significant part of the curriculum in courses related to international relations and security. “It is vital, at least for the Security Studies Program and other international studies programs, that the issues of 9-11 be discussed extensively and put in the context of American policy and political theory,” he said.
Government professor Andrew Bennett agreed that the attacks have had a significant effect on the classroom, but in terms of international relations, they reinforced issues already being discussed and encouraged further study of classical international relations.
“My international relations classes have always addressed the problems of weapons of mass destruction and the difficulties of coordinating our intelligence and law enforcement agencies in the fight against terrorism,” Bennett said. “I think it is great that foreign affairs and the Islamic world are getting more attention now, but I would also hope that this translates into more attention to international relations in general.”
Similarly, History professor and Associate Director of the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding John Voll said that while the events of Sept. 11 are referred to in his courses on Islam and the West, the fundamental issues have not been altered.
“The events of 9-11 highlighted some very important dimensions of Muslim-Christian relations, but did not, in my view, change the fundamental issues involved. Since the courses taught by faculty in the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding have long dealt with the issues raised by 9-11 terrorism, there have not been major changes in the course content,” Voll said.
Georgetown experts also spoke out on issues of security and Muslim-Christian relations on campus.
Hoyt said that while we should still be concerned about security as a university in Washington, D.C., concern should not be mistaken with obsession.
“The University itself is probably not a prime target,” Hoyt said, “and the same kinds of security procedures that attempt to handle petty crimes or other misbehavior coming on campus from outside the University have some applicability in providing security against possible terrorist surveillance or assault.”
Concerning domestic security throughout the country, Hoyt said he believes violations of civil liberties in an effort to reinforce security is an issue that remains unresolved.
“It remains to be seen what the long term impacts are from a constitutional standpoint. The longer it takes for the next terrorist incident in the United States, the more contentious this issue is likely to become on the domestic political scene,” he said.
Voll affirmed that the status of Muslim-Christian relations on campus is remarkably good. While other incidents of prejudice activity were reported throughout the country, Voll said that the Georgetown community participated in interfaith religious services and encouraged discussion of interfaith issues in classrooms and informal discussions. Voll said, however, that the Sept. 11 attacks revealed a significant presence of ignorance concerning the Islamic faith on campus.
He said, “My experience has been that I found not so much prejudice as ignorance. Many non-Muslims among the students, faculty and staff still know remarkably little about Islam and Muslim life. Questions about jihad and Islam’s ideas of violence that were raised most of the time arose out a context of lack of information rather than a condition of prejudice.”
Voll said he was pleased to see that Georgetown’s response to ignorance among non-Muslims has been an increased supply of information, encouragement of communication between Muslims and non-Muslims and other informational activities. Voll also said that Sept. 11 was not a turning point in Georgetown’s efforts to educate students on Islam.
“Georgetown University has made a number of special efforts in recent years to have a broader sense of interfaith inclusiveness. The appointment of a Muslim chaplain in the Campus Ministry a couple of years ago was a very important step in interfaith relations and gave the University community an already-existing resource when the crisis of 9-11 terrorism came,” he said.
