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Rebuilding
Iraq's academic community and the challenge of civil society in civil war
By Michael Nataro '06
On Sept. 29, the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies
sponsored a lecture titled “Rebuilding Iraq’s Academic Community and the
Challenges of Civil Society in Civil War” with Dr. Keith Watenpaugh, an
associate professor of Eastern
 Mediterranean
and Islamic History at Le Moyne College in upstate New York. The event drew
students, faculty and administrators alike from the Villanova community to
hear the views of an expert on the status quo of academia despite the
insurgent state of affairs in war-torn Iraq. Having spent a great deal of
time in the Middle East himself, he spoke about the present state of the
academic community in Iraq. He said the environment is similar to
post-revolution Iran during the late 70s as well as during the Lebanese
civil war in the 80s. Essentially, it is very dangerous to be an academic in
Iraq. There are accounts of professors being assassinated by Islamic
militants because of their views and their philosophies as well as the
destruction of many academic institutions like libraries, universities and
museums. In spite of this, there are many students who still attend classes
and a many professors who continue to teach.
Dr
Watenpaugh attributed the civil strife in Iraq to a lack of basic
understanding between the two cultures which cause the Islamic militants to
continue their belligerency. His advice to the students of Arabic and
Islamic Studies at Villanova was to go abroad and immerse themselves in
Middle Eastern culture, to understand and appreciate the richness of
thousands of years of history and tradition. |
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