April 17, 2003
Campus pauses for ‘Time of Reflection’
Business as usual will temporarily stop for some at the UW on Wednesday, April 23.
Interim UW President Lee Huntsman has set aside the day, being dubbed a Time of Reflection: The War in Iraq, so that the campus community can come together and explore the meaning and consequences of the war and its aftermath.
| For the most up to date scheduling information on the ‘Time of Reflection’ visit this online schedule. |
Classes will go on as scheduled on the day, but faculty have been encouraged to use the time to discuss the meaning and consequences of the war. Classes that don’t meet on Wednesdays are encouraged to discuss the international situation during their regular Tuesday or Thursday sessions. Also on Wednesday there will be a series of lectures, workshops, and moderated discussions about the conflict in Iraq from 2:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. on the Seattle campus.
“It’s ending up to be a wide range with an interesting variety of sessions and perspectives on the Middle East, Iraq, and the history and consequences of war in general,” said Norm Arkans, the associate vice president of University Relations and a member of the committee that organized the day.
Here’s a brief sampling that shows just how varied the day’s events will be:
- “What Role Should Unions Play in Broader Issues of War and Peace,” is a discussion sponsored by the UW Chapter of SEIU Local 925 for the 5,000 classified staff on campus. The discussion will consider how and whether unions should take a stand on issues of war and peace. It will run from noon to 1 p.m. in 309 HUB.
- “War on Iraq: Beyond Hawks vs. Peaceniks,” a lecture by UW physicist Vladimir Chaloupka. Chaloupka is opening his physics of music class to the general public on April 23.
The lecture will go beyond war and peace and focus a great deal of attention to the increasing gap between the exponential progress of science and technology on the one hand and people’s ability to responsibly deal with that science and technology on the other hand. The class will meet in the Geballe Auditorium, 102 Physics/Astronomy from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. A synopsis of the lecture is available on the Web at http://www.phys.washington.edu/~vladi/iraq.html .
Chaloupka was the subject of a recent University Week profile. Learn more about him and his work at this link.
- “Draw Out Your Experience,” an informal hands-on workshop that allows participants to draw, paint and create images that express their feelings, questions and insights about the war. Laurie Johnson an administrator coordinator in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, will lead the session. It runs from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in 313 Smith.
Organizers kept the events as balanced as possible. A call for prospective forums, seminars and teach-ins was sent out to UW faculty, staff and students. A majority of the 50 proposals returned came from people opposing the war in Iraq. And the event, after all, was initiated by the Campus For Peace group. But Arkans hopes and expects a variety of viewpoints will be welcomed.
“We were hoping for a more balanced set of proposals, but most that came in seemed to represent perspectives opposing the war effort,” Arkans said. “Still, we feel there are students and faculty with lots of different views. There are many people on campus who support the war effort, and we want their voices to be heard. This should be a learning process and that’s what learning is about — a healthy consideration of different perspectives.”
Another concern for organizers of the event is the timeliness. They had tried to get the event set for an earlier date but it was logistically impossible. Still, Arkans says the event is as important today as the day the war effort began.
“There is still conflict, there are still major issues in Iraq and issues about America’s changing foreign policy,” he said. “There are still issues as we help Iraqis put their country back together. It’s not necessarily a changed landscape in terms of what this means for America, for Iraq and for the Middle East.”
