Notre Dame offered several new courses and restructured others spring semester to examine issues related to September 11. Here are some of them:
— Homefronts During War (American Studies) looked at the ways Americans responded at home to war and threats of war during the 20th century. The final two weeks were left open to focus on developments in the war on terrorism. Taught by Heidi Ardizzone, assistant professor of American studies.
— Problems of Contemporary Violence: Terrorism, War, and Peace after September 11 (Government) focused on the global role of the United States, the nature of conflicts that cross religious and cultural as well as economic and political lines, and the meaning of human security and how to achieve it. Taught by Robert Johansen, professor of government and international studies and director of graduate studies in the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies.
— Managing Differences and Conflict (Management) examined religious, ethnic, racial and gender differences, stereotyping and prejudice. Taught by Renee Tynan, assistant professor of management. A companion lecture series featured Cathleen Black, president of Hearst Magazines and a Notre Dame trustee; NBC News correspondent Ann Thompson, a 1979 ND graduate; Juan Johnson, vice president and director of diversity strategies for The Coca-Cola Company; and Father Hesburgh, a charter member and former chair of the Civil Rights Commission.
— Christian Attitudes Toward War, Peace and Revolution (Theology) looked at the subjects from the time of Christ and the early church to the present. Issues included terrorism, the morality of nuclear weapons, military chaplaincy, conscientious objection, and the ROTC in Catholic institutions of higher education. Taught by Father Michael J. Baxter, CSC, assistant professor of theology, who received a master’s of divinity from ND in 1983.
— Modern Middle East (History). This course usually surveys the history of the region from 500 A.D. to the present. It was reworked to reference contemporary developments. “For example,” instructor Paul Cobb, assistant professor of history, said, “when discussing World War I, students [were] asked to assess the degree to which the events of September 11 [were] ‘fallout’ from the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.”
Notre Dame Magazine, Summer 2002