Re: CITR and the Koran

I live in NC, but go to school elsewhere--I have a lot of friends that are
in the incoming class at UNC though. So, needless to say, this issue has
been talked about around these parts. It's not even the religious part of
the assignment that bothers me, so much as the fact that only one aspect
of one part of one religion is being analzyzed, presumably in the name of
diversity, the buzzword du jour at most American universities. It would
be for more interesting, and more beneficial, I believe, for UNC to
perhaps divide the class into, say, fourths, and then give each group one
religion, and then let the discussions include members of each group.
Granted, the aims of this summer reading program are ostensibly oriented
around the poetic nature of the Koran, but I feel that perhaps this isn't
the best way to do this.
Not only that, but I have strong suspicion that any members of the
incoming freshman class who practice Islam might feel singled out. I
don't have the statistics in front of me, but I am willing to bet that a
tiny minority of UNC students practice Islam. It would be interesting to
find out how that minority took the assignment.

Brooks Lambert-Sluder

On Tue, 20 Aug 2002, m e g h a n wrote:

> I think that this issue shouldn't even be an issue. It's just another book.
> And I know there wouldn't be an controversey if students had been asked to
> read the Christian Bible. And *that* scares me.
> >From: Mike42082@aol.com
> >Reply-To: bananafish@roughdraft.org
> >To: bananafish@roughdraft.org
> >Subject: CITR and the Koran
> >Date: Tue, 20 Aug 2002 20:24:01 -0400
> >
> >Have you guys heard about the summer reading program at UNC that required
> >students to read the Koran over the summer and hold discussion groups? It
> >has gotten alot of national attention on NPR, I think. There have been
> >several lawsuits over it and even the governor vowed to withdraw state
> >funding if UNC went through with the program.
> >
> >I am a Junior now at UNC, so I didn't have to read the book, but I was
> >wondering what you guys think of the issue, if you have heard about it. It
> >reminds me of when I was in high school and CITR was pulled from reading
> >lists along with Romeo and Juliet, etc. But this is a liberal arts
> >college, you know? It's supposed to shake your head up--not tell you that
> >you've been right your whole life.
> >
> >In the past year, my professors and TAs have conveyed non-confrontation
> >with issues like this. Do you guys think there is a chance that academic
> >environments, like public universities, are susceptible (to any degree) to
> >the whims of society?
> >
> >I guess it just scares me.
> >
> >Mike
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>
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Received on Wed Aug 21 00:21:08 2002