Monday, November, 12th, 2001 at SDSU students, faculty, staff and community members participated in a series of lectures and workshops organized around the theme of "After September 11th: Reflecting on the Past, Imaging the Future."


Students filtered in and out between the morning's events due to the busy time of the semester. However, it was apparent that students and others in attendance were eager to discuss and learn more about the complex issues concerning the September 11 crisis.


The day's events began with a dance performance by Allyson Green, a dance professor who recently moved from New York, entitled "Elegy." This piece was taken from a dance called, "In the Name." The piece dealt with the pain of loss. The entire piece will be performed in January at State by Allyson's New York Company.


The other speakers in the opening section were William Creek, a history professor who spoke about the importance of applying history to understand the current events, Mir Hekmat Sadat, Sr. writer for AfganMagazine.com who spoke on future possibilities for Afghanistan, and Huma Ahmed-Ghosh, a women's studies professor who spoke about impending humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.


Participants in the event then had to chose between several interesting workshop sessions. The workshops were prefaced with this statement in the program: Project yourself five years into the future. Imagine that the antagonism and mistrust for the U.S. that is widespread today, has largely dissipated. Perceptions of the U.S. in the rest of the world are now more closely aligned with America's self image as a democratic nation with a positive role in the global community. What specific actions by the U.S government and the people of the U.S. might have led to this result?

The main topics of the workshop sections were:



- Terrorism, Counter-Terrorism, and Civil Rights

- Afghanistan and It's Neighbors: Nation Building for Whom

- Acts of Imagination and the Arts

- Women and Islam: Debates over Human Rights

- Are There Alternatives to Military Actions as Responses to the Events of Sept. 11

- The Politics of Oil in Persian Gulf

- Living with Uncertainty: Revitalizing Community in an Age of Biochemical Terror

- Towards a New Dialogue: Israelis and Palestinians

- A Clash of Civilizations? Islam and the "West"

The mini-conference ended with a recap of what ideas came out of the workshops and talks by Samy Swayd and Kathy Jones. Most of the students who I spoke with after the event were glad they had gone. Some felt that the event was rushed with not enough time to experience all of the topics or to have real discussion between the other participants. Others commented that there was no cohesive action or comment that would come out of the event. The group SDSU Peace and Justice Coalition is working to form a group of students who which to take action against the war and racism. (email peacesdsu@hotmail.com)

I am interested to here how others view this event. I am also curious to get comments from people who attended the different workshops. Please comment.

Some of the information about this event can be found on the SDSU website as well as information about upcoming events. Monday, November, 12th, 2001 at SDSU students, faculty, staff and community members participated in a series of lectures and workshops organized around the theme of "After September 11th: Reflecting on the Past, Imaging the Future."


Students filtered in and out between the morning's events due to the busy time of the semester. However, it was apparent that students and others in attendance were eager to discuss and learn more about the complex issues concerning the September 11 crisis.


The day's events began with a dance performance by Allyson Green, a dance professor who recently moved from New York, entitled "Elegy." This piece was taken from a dance called, "In the Name." The piece dealt with the pain of loss. The entire piece will be performed in January at State by Allyson's New York Company.


The other speakers in the opening section were William Creek, a history professor who spoke about the importance of applying history to understand the current events, Mir Hekmat Sadat, Sr. writer for AfganMagazine.com who spoke on future possibilities for Afghanistan, and Huma Ahmed-Ghosh, a women's studies professor who spoke about impending humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.


Participants in the event then had to chose between several interesting workshop sessions. The workshops were prefaced with this statement in the program: Project yourself five years into the future. Imagine that the antagonism and mistrust for the U.S. that is widespread today, has largely dissipated. Perceptions of the U.S. in the rest of the world are now more closely aligned with America's self image as a democratic nation with a positive role in the global community. What specific actions by the U.S government and the people of the U.S. might have led to this result?

The main topics of the workshop sections were:



- Terrorism, Counter-Terrorism, and Civil Rights

- Afghanistan and It's Neighbors: Nation Building for Whom

- Acts of Imagination and the Arts

- Women and Islam: Debates over Human Rights

- Are There Alternatives to Military Actions as Responses to the Events of Sept. 11

- The Politics of Oil in Persian Gulf

- Living with Uncertainty: Revitalizing Community in an Age of Biochemical Terror

- Towards a New Dialogue: Israelis and Palestinians

- A Clash of Civilizations? Islam and the "West"

The mini-conference ended with a recap of what ideas came out of the workshops and talks by Samy Swayd and Kathy Jones. Most of the students who I spoke with after the event were glad they had gone. Some felt that the event was rushed with not enough time to experience all of the topics or to have real discussion between the other participants. Others commented that there was no cohesive action or comment that would come out of the event. The group SDSU Peace and Justice Coalition is working to form a group of students who which to take action against the war and racism. (email peacesdsu@hotmail.com)

I am interested to here how others view this event. I am also curious to get comments from people who attended the different workshops. Please comment.

Some of the information about this event can be found on the SDSU website as well as information about upcoming events.

http://www.sdsu.edu/announcements/attackupdate/