September 11 memorial

September 9, 2002

One year later: Campus honors victims, examines world tensions

Like their peers across the nation, scholars at UC Santa Cruz have followed the events of the past year with a combination of personal and professional interest.

On the anniversary of 9-11, UCSC historian Terry Burke, above, is among the faculty members offering commentary.

Members of the campus community will gather at noon on September 11 in the Upper Quarry Amphitheater. The amphitheater was the site of a similar event in 2001, below. Photo: UCSC Photo Services

As the campus prepares to remember the victims of the terrorist attacks on the first anniversary of September 11, Currents Online asked five UCSC professors to share their thoughts and analysis of the events of the past 12 months and their insights about what may come next.

• Edmund "Terry" Burke III, a professor of history, is an expert on Islam and the Middle East. He writes about "From 9/11 to the intervention in Iraq." Burke is the editor of Struggle and Survival in the Modern Middle East and coeditor of Islam, Politics and Social Movements.

• John Brown Childs, a professor of sociology, specializes in contemporary urban issues and race relations. His topic is "Homeland security in the World House." He is the author of the forthcoming book on cooperation and peacemaking, entitled "Transcommunality: From the Politics of Conversion to the Ethics of Respect," due later this year from Temple University Press.

• Ronnie Lipschutz, professor of politics, is an expert on international affairs and global political networks. He specializes in peacemaking and conflict resolution, and he is coeditor of the book, The Myth of "Ethnic Conflict": Politics, Economics, and "Cultural" Violence. Lipschutz's subject for Currents is Pathways to Empire.

• Paul Lubeck, professor of sociology, specializes in the religious and social diversity within Islam. Lubeck is director of a research project examining the ways in which Islamic social movements are challenging existing states and economic globalization. He writes about "Hidden casualties of the war on terrorism."

• Alan Richards, a professor of environmental studies and an expert on the Middle East, has been a frequent consultant to the State Department and the Department of Defense on Middle Eastern affairs during the past 10 years. Richards is coauthor of the book, A Political Economy of the Middle East. His commentary is entitled "The year of the dragon's teeth."

In addition, to honor those who lost their lives in the attacks one year ago, the campus community is invited to join Chancellor M.R.C. Greenwood for a noon-hour ceremony on Wednesday, September 11, in the Upper Quarry Amphitheater.

Participants will be invited to write thoughts and wishes on a strip of colored cloth and "weave" their comments into a large "loom" structure, creating a commemorative tapestry. UCSC firefighter Mike Quinton will preside over the tolling of a ceremonial Indonesian gong, and violinist Michelle Witt will perform during the weaving ceremony.

On September 26, Terry Burke, Paul Lubeck, and Alan Richards will participate in a discussion, "The U.S., the Middle East and the World Since 9/11:
Critical Perspectives."

The event, from 7 to 9 p.m. in Classroom Unit II, is sponsored by the Ad Hoc Faculty Committee on Current Events, The Center for Justice, Tolerance, and Community, Colleges Nine and Ten, the Center for Global, International, and Regional Studies, the Center for Cultural Studies and the Institute for Humanities Research.

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