By Matt Morris
Monthly panel series begins in light of September 11 anniversary
The University of Louisville’s History Department and the Interfaith Center, to mark the upcoming 9-11 anniversary, have coordinated a monthly discussion series for the fall semester.
“Confronting Terror: Issues of U.S. Justice, Morality, and Policy in the Wake of Sept. 11, 2001” is a panel designed to allow students and citizens to hear professors of history and philosophy, as well as other disciplines, draw from their fields of study and address current issues in America that have resulted from 9-11.
The panel will take place the first Thursday of every month at 6:30 p.m. in the Ekstrom Auditorium, which is in the basement of Ekstrom Library. This past Thursday, September 5, the first panel of the series was held. The topic of discussion was “History, Law, Justice and Terrorism,” and the four panelists that spoke were history professors Dr. Wayne Lee, Dr. Thomas Mackey, Dr. Benjamin Harrison, and Dr. Mark Blum. The panel had an overwhelming turnout, with approximately 80 to 100 people on hand, including many citizens from the area as well as students.
The forum proved to be very interesting as Dr. Lee opened with his speech. Dr. Lee is a history professor with specialty in 18th century war, and as he related many of the events of this time period to what may lie in the U.S.’s future depending on the decisions of the government, many strong points were made. Two concerns of Dr. Lee’s that interested many people as evidenced by their questions and comments was what he called “the Great Uncommitted” and also the general codes of war. He addressed the issue of the U.S. considering action against Iraq, and he pointed out that many people on both sides that are uncommitted will be cast to one side or the other if action is taken. He also discussed a type of historical code of honor that is present in warfare that can be distorted depending on the nature of the two nations. One problem arising from these differences as well as other reasons depending on the war is that people’s expectations of war are surpassed by greater violence and atrocities. As these expectations of war are exceeded, the military loses the backing of the people.
His interpretations of the past and discussions of the present should not be taken as lessons, as he stated, but as cautions. Dr. Lee said that he is not a pacifist, but closed by saying, “A war against terrorism is retaliatory and asymmetrical.”
Dr. Mackey followed Dr. Lee with a discussion of constitutional and legal issues of the U.S., drawing on our forefathers and their concerns for the nation as they wrote the Constitution in 1787. He discussed the importance of the strength of the central government as a form of protection from external threats and a type of power to draw on to respond to crises. He also commented on the fact that history can only be used to some extent in anticipating events of the present time. He quoted Abraham Lincoln in saying, “The dogmas of the past are inadequate in dealing with the stormy future.”
Dr. Harrison also spoke on the turmoil that the nation experienced during the 1960’s and discussed some of the things this nation has seen in its war on internal or domestic terrorism. Dr. Blum spoke last. Blum, one of the coordinators of the event, said afterwards that he did not expect this many people to attend the forum, especially on the first night. He also pointed out that he gained some insight from the views of his colleagues and the questions and comments of the audience.
The forum will take place next on October 3, and the topic will be “Religion, Humanism, Morality, and Terrorism,” with panelists from the philosophy department and priests from the Catholic Church. The topic for the forum on November 7 will be “Sociology, Economics, and Terrorism.” The final forum for the semester will take place on December 7 with the topic “Public Policy, Power, and Terrorism.”
