Terror topic of education

Students in Dr. Rebecca Steinberger's Terrorism and Migration class hosted a educational event on Saturday November 18 to help students learn and understand terrorism.

Act 1

The first event took place early in the Pauly Friedman Art Gallery where students read aloud excerpts from the plays Pillowman, Talking to Terrorists and V for Vendetta. A handful of students played specific roles, and each switched during breaks between plays. During the V for Vendetta reading, students even got audience members to accompany them in reading specific passages from the story.

Lunch Break

A brief luncheon was held in the McGowan Room of the Mary Kintz Bevevino library for all who came to the event. A media room was on display for the day where laptops and a television displayed a continuous video loop and newspaper clippings from actual terrorist attacks during the meal.

Story of tragedy and hope

The next event featured Professor Peggy Rapp. She began her story with a personal reflection of the 9/11 tragedy. Rapp's brother survived the second attack on the World Trade Center. He was working as an elevator manager and witnessed the attack firsthand. He physically survived the collapse of the tower but emerged with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.

Rapp fielded questions when she was done speaking. One person in the crowed asked a powerful question: "Has America done enough for the 9/11 survivors and family?" "We as a society have done as much as we could, since America is a very short term society. Everyone needs to look at the event and take responsibility for it," Rapp explained.

After Rapp spoke, Steinberger, read a few poems that a friend wrote during the London terrorist attacks of July 2007.

"You can call me V."

The class then showed the film V for Vendetta, which showed a revolutionary who was seen in the eyes government as a terrorist due to his actions during the course of the movie to change a futuristic England.

Final Act

The final event of the day allowed students to present results of a survey they distributed to several classes about students' knowledge of terrorism. They questioned biases and misconceptions that people once held about topics of terrorism. Some questions engaged the audience by asking things such as, "Is everyone that's a radical, also a terrorist?" This discussion moved from issues of terrorism to that of women's rights and even religion.

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