Veritas, Vol. 31, No. 10, February 15, 1991

              For the Faculty and Staff of the University of Miami
February 15, 1991 Volume 31 Number 10
Professors share Middle East expertise in timely class
While the United States sends thousands of bombers and reconnaissance flights over Iraq and Kuwait, ground troops amass on both sides of the Kuwait border, and prisoners of war are captured, Americans watch the war played out on CNN and read their newspapers for the latest news.
At the same time, more than 50 students in a Learning Center classroom listen to, read about, and discuss a broader perspective of the crisis. The course is “The Political Economy of the Middle East,” offered by the Graduate School of International Studies.
A young man in a black turtleneck shirt stands in front of the classroom discussing an issue with a man in a yarmulke. The young man, Ahmad Abuljobain, has a Palestinian heritage and a Jordanian passport. The man in the yarmulke is Professor Richard Weisskoff, who created the course.
The class is Weisskoff s response to the Middle East crisis and an attempt to bring understanding to University of Miami students about one of today’s most important issues. In early August when it became clear that there would be a crisis in the Persian Gulf, Weisskoff began calling professors in 12 departments to set up a truly interdepartmental course.
“The whole University united to offer this course,” says Weisskoff. “This is unique. At this time, I want to know as much as possible, and fast, about that part of the world and why we’re there.”
Every professor contacted said he or she would participate. Among the 18 are Raymond Barr, professor and chairperson of musicology, who discusses the region’s music; Bernard Schechterman, professor of politics and public affairs, who discusses the political and economic
instability; Ifavid Fisher, professor of marine geology and geophysics, who discusses oil and alternative energy sources; Jorge Fernandez, lecturer of international studies, who is an expert on weaponry; Moiez Tapia, professor of electrical and computer engineering, who discusses the fundamentals of Islam; and Marcilene Wittmer, professor of art and art history, who is an expert on the decorative art of the Middle East.
Within two weeks of its inception, in time for the printing of the course description catalog, the course was ready. It can be taken by freshmen as well as other University students since there is no prerequisite.
The students and others auditing the course sit in the lecture hall to hear people like Andrew Handler, professor of history, who discusses the beginnings of Islam and the growth of the Arab culture.
“By bringing students from the United States and the Middle East together in a respectful, intellectual setting,” says Weisskoff, “we’re going for dialogue and under-
Retired Justice
standing beneath the headlines. Our goal is to make a lot more information available to everyone.” Since an essential part of the course is to hear all sides of the Middle East story, those who take the course also hear perspectives such as that of a Moroccan who
The Honorable William J. Brennan, Jr., who recently retired after 34 years as Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, is conducting a two-month seminar at the University of Miami.
The course, which emphasizes the Bill of Rights of the Constitution, is being taught to a select group of students and includes the participation of three leading constitutional scholars. They are Laurence H. Tribe, who is the Ralph S. Tyler, Jr., Professor of Constitutional Law at Harvard Law School; Frank I. Michel man.
was in Kuwait at the time of the Iraqi invasion.
Omar Al-Taher, a Ph.D. student in international studies and one of three section leaders for the course, recounts his experience. Visiting his family in Kuwait in late continued on page 2
professor of law at Harvard Law School and a former law clerk for Justice Brennan; and Owen M.
Fiss, who is the Alexander M. Bickel Professor of Public Law at Yale Law School and also a former law clerk for the justice.
The two-month stay is Justice Brennan’s third visit to the University. He delivered the School of Law’s annual Cole Lecture in January 1989 and paid a return visit to the University in February 1990.
Brennan teaches law course
Lenny Cohen