The tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001 sparked an increasing awareness of
current events in the world that often made its way into the
classroom.
Two years later, this presence of relevant world issues has
somewhat diminished due to a lack of interest and the need to
expand on topics.
Two weeks after the fall of the World Trade Center, 49
nationally renowned “Perspectives on Sept. 11″ seminars
were created at UCLA to help students better understand the
disaster that changed the nation.
Shawn Roldan, a third-year political science student, took a
Sept. 11 seminar and believed that it allowed him to have a better
understanding of the chaos that was happening during the
aftermath.
However, the success of the Sept. 11 seminars eventually proved
to be the beginning of the end for the discussion of the topic
itself.
From the success of seminars, Chancellor Albert Carnesale
advocated for an expansion of the topics of the seminar series,
which led to the courses becoming a part of the undergraduate
curriculum.
“The innovative response was so impressive that students
requested more of such seminars,” said Frederick Burwick, an
English professor who taught a Sept. 11 seminar titled
“Fictions of Terror versus Real Terror.”
The current Fiat Lux program, named after the University of
California’s motto, “Let There be Light,” is
designed to illuminate the many different aspects of UCLA’s
curriculum to undergraduates, especially freshmen.
Students enrolled in the seminars have the opportunity to
participate in smaller classes with lighter workloads, which are
graded as pass/no pass and valued at one unit of course credit.
The topics, however, no longer focus exclusively on Sept.
11-related issues.
Instead, they offer a variety of topics based on the
professor’s area of interest and knowledge of expertise.
“I think that the initial success of the seminars
persuaded the university of the general intellectual and social
benefits of running small-scale seminars for incoming
students,” said John Agnew, a professor of geography and the
Sept.11 seminar “Understanding the Taliban.”
Since the seminar topics have broadened, current-event issues
have been making less of an appearance in these courses.
Among the seminars in the curriculum for the current year, a few
focus on current events. One seminar, “Re-Reading Democracy
in America: Politics Before and After Sept. 11,” is the only
course relating to the original Sept. 11 seminars.
Rogers Brubaker, a professor of sociology who taught a Sept. 11
seminar on “Making Sense of New World Disorder”
believes current event seminars have declined due to a lack of
interest and feelings of disillusionment on the parts of both the
professors and students.
“I think that many of us are a bit in retreat from a world
and a national environment that seems increasingly out of control,
and leadership that seems unresponsive and at times
tyrannical,” Brubaker said.
Although the use of current events in relation to the seminars
has diminished, many professors still bring up current issues in
their classes to elaborate on a topic or to offer relevant
examples.
Jessica Wang, a history professor who taught a Sept. 11 seminar
on “Terror and the Dilemmas of American Powers,” said
she frequently draws upon current events in her courses.
“They offer a way of drawing connections between the past
and present,” Wang said.
Victor Wolfenstein, a political science professor, also believes
it is useful to use current events as a resource in the
classroom.
“I readily avail myself of the present to illuminate and
make relevant materials from the past, and the past to shed light
on the present,” said Wolfenstein.
Students can now expand their knowledge of the present to
include much of today’s popular culture in addition to
today’s current events.
Students enrolled in current Fiat Lux seminars have the option
of learning about anything ranging from “Lord of the Rings:
The Concept of Good and Evil in the Community” to
“Africa: Roots of Crisis.”
Kim Mattatall, a first-year psychobiology student, who is
enrolled in a Fiat Lux seminar, said she would find a seminar on
current events more interesting than a pop culture course.
Additionally, if she had to choose between a Sept. 11 seminar or
a new Fiat Lux seminar, she said she would have chosen the
former.