Intersession and September 11

I am teaching an intersession course for the first time this year. We meet four days a week for just under three hours each day. It'll be intense not only because of the compressed nature of the schedule but because the course I am teaching is September 11, 2001 and Beyond. Like me, most of our students are from New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania and knew people who died on 9/11. That often makes the class pretty emotional and challenging at times.

The first time I taught the class was spring 2012. Students were in third and fourth grade when 9/11 occurred and so they had some personal recollection of the day's events. They mostly remember being in lock down in school and then a visibly distressed parent coming to pick them up from school early that day. Today's college students were around five years old when 9/11 happened so I am not sure what they remember, if anything accurately. (So first year students were five years old or so; I have seniors so they were in third and fourth grades).

I don't get the feeling that students learn much about events surrounding 9/11 in much of an academic way prior to or even in college. They've gotten a little from parents and friends over the years but that is about it. Now I am sure that we can say that about lots of events but given that we are only a decade or so removed from the attacks and that we and the world are living the consequences every day, every political science department should do their best to introduce some of what we know about the causes and consequences of 9/11 to our students.

Here is the course description and (for the first time) student learning outcomes:

Course Description: This course analyzes the major social and political events directly related to September 11, 2011. Throughout the semester, we will examine the causes and consequences of 9/11 including, but not limited to, the emergence of Al Qaeda, the historical involvement of the U.S. in the Middle East, the covert and overt wars launched by the U.S. in response to the attacks, and efforts intended by the U.S. government to ensure the safety of Americans here at home and abroad.

Student Learning Outcomes (see last page for additional details): At the end of this course, a student who has completed all readings and assignments and participated in class discussions is expected to:

• Demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the United States and al Qaeda prior to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks (Methods of Assessment: Class participation, Exam 1)

• Explain how the United States, al Qaeda and much of the rest of the world responded to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks (Methods of Assessment: Class participation, Exam 2);

• Identify and analyze what injustices, real or perceived, led up to and resulted from 9/11 (Methods of Assessment: Class participation, Exams, Policy Paper);

• Write a policy position paper based on original individual research in which a course of action is recommended and justified (Method of Assessment: Proposal, Policy Paper); and

• Articulate and defend orally a policy position (Method of Assessment: Presentation).

Here's the entire syllabus. I'd say that it is a little light on political science in its current state which will change when I teach the course during a full fifteen week period.