Issues of war finding their way into classrooms

As U.S. forces fight to liberate Iraq, UW professors are treating the war as a useful, albeit delicate, teaching instrument.

Many professors say the war with Iraq is a unique opportunity to enhance lectures with headlines ripped fresh from the news.

But while the war can help engage students, it could just as easily enrage some. To explore the war’s relevance in classrooms, the UW Teaching Academy is hosting an April 4 panel discussion on “The Interface of War and the Classroom.” The event will feature professors, students and community members discussing if and how professors can effectively use the war with Iraq as a teaching instrument in classrooms.

“The purpose is for instructors to think about how they should approach this really difficult issue,” says Professor Jay Martin, member of the Teaching Academy. “All of us are looking for balance and relevance in our classroom.”

While some professors may choose to leave war out of classroom discussion entirely, some courses cannot avoid the topic. UW Professor David Leheny, who teaches a course on terrorism and non-state violence, says he aims to show students the complexities of war and terrorism on multiple levels, so students can better develop their own opinions.

“The main thing is to make sure students don’t oversimplify war,” Leheny says. “Don’t allow students’ pre-existing views to affect their judgment about what the war’s effect on terrorism will be.”

Current events are too useful a teaching tool to ignore entirely, says Professor Jon Pevehouse, who teaches international relations. Studying the war with Iraq tests the course material, bringing alive theories and models, he says.

“We learn a lot of theories about the causes of war,” Pevehouse says. “What I’ve been able to do, along with the class, is ask, “Do we think this theory does a good job explaining what’s going on right now?’ In that way, we can show how the theory may or may not be relevant.”

Pevehouse says by looking at the current situation through an academic lens, professors can disarm students’ partisan opinions and help them get a well-rounded understanding of the conflict.

“I want to challenge them, but I don’t want to disrespect their views,” Pevehouse says. “We don’t know all the facts, so we sort of speculate: If this is true, then how does that theory hold up? It’s been, hopefully, interesting for the students. It’s been interesting for me because we think about theories to explain the world around us.”

Other professors are integrating the war into preplanned course curriculum, using the news as classroom examples. Journalism Professor Jack Mitchell is using the day’s war coverage to help students interpret the latest reports from the front.

“All this week we’ll be using examples from the current situation to discuss the interaction between public relations and the news media,” Mitchell says. “We would do this section of the course anyways, but it gives us wonderful examples that everyone is familiar with.”

By discussing the war in an academic setting, he and other professors are able to find a silver lining in the horrors of war, Mitchell says.