As an Islamic Studies and Civilizations (ICS) major and recent returnee from studying abroad programs in Lebanon and Kuwait, I strongly applaud The Heights' Sept. 29 editorial calling for more Middle Eastern study-abroad opportunities.
The editorial is absolutely correct in its assessment that studying abroad is an important and necessary component of specializing in the Middle East (or any region, for that matter).
During the three months I spent in the Middle East, I fully immersed myself in the local culture, language, and religion. As I returned, it dawned on me that studying ICS and not visiting the region is akin to majoring in art history and never visiting an art museum.
Despite how many classes I had taken and how many books I had read, the only way in which I could fully understand the region's countless complexities and intricacies was through first-hand experience.
While the editorial correctly pointed out the dearth of internal study abroad programs in the Middle East, it failed to mention two attractive and feasible alternatives: participating in a summer study program through BC or pursuing an unapproved, external program at one of the region's prestigious universities.
Last summer, professors Kathleen Bailey and David Deese taught a class titled "Oil and Politics in the Gulf" in Kuwait City. The class, for which six Boston College credits were offered, included lectures, guest speakers, and numerous site visits.
As one student remarked to me at the end of the program, we had all been turned into "mini-experts" on the Persian Gulf. This summer, BC will again be offering the Kuwait course, as well as programs in Turkey and Jordan.
For those seeking more than a summer crash course, the Middle East is home to numerous English-speaking universities, some of which are just as old and prestigious as our own. I spent most of my summer studying Arabic at the American University of Beirut, which is widely acknowledged as the "Harvard of the Middle East."
Just because the delicate political situation in Lebanon has prevented BC from establishing an internal program with AUB does not mean that intrepid students should cross it, or any other university in the Middle East, off their study abroad list.
The Middle East is a region that is full of excuses not to study there. However, for those of us that have chosen to specialize in Middle Eastern and Islamic studies, or those who just want to understand an incredibly important part of the world, studying in the region is a necessity.
As a BC student, what better way to learn what "sets the world aflame" than to study in a place as literally and figuratively hot as the Middle East?
Alex Guittard A&S '11
Don't throw around hazing accusations After reading the article "Caught in the Haze" written by Courtney Dower, I was a bit taken aback and disappointed in the generalizing aspects of her article toward the athletic department. Because hazing has happened at other schools, Dower generalized that it also happens here, although she presented this argument without any proof.
In her closing paragraph, Dower mentioned that "hazing at BC has not been an out-of-hand problem" and that there has been "only one major instance in the last few years in which they had to investigate and suspend the group," and this does not happen by accident.
The athletic department at BC works very hard in enforcing rules on hazing on campus, and all student-athletes are required to attend seminars about the possible effects of hazing. In addition to this, captains of each respective team attend additional lectures and are told of the repercussions of hazing the new freshmen. With this being said, it is very disappointing to read that the actions of the whole athletics department and all student-athletes have been compared to Greek life and fraternity hazing because Katie Foster, CSOM '11, (who is not a student-athlete), said so.
Hazing on college campuses is a very serious issue and I am not denying that it happens, I am simply saying this article (being the front-page article of a very well-read newspaper) should be written with proof and factual evidence as opposed to quoting a few of Dower's friends on the subject. The athletic department here at BC works very hard to clean up our image, and it is disappointing that writers in our own school newspaper are trying to tear that down.
David Hasebroock A&S '10
BC holds first Rosh Hashanah Service Boston College Hillel, BC's Jewish student organization, extends its best wishes and warmest greetings to the campus as we celebrate the start of the Jewish New Year on Rosh Hashanah, which commenced last Monday evening. For Jewish people, this holiday is often a time to reflect on our deeds from the previous year, begin the process of repentance, and reaffirm our faith in God.
For the first time ever in BC history, BC students and staff joined together on campus to usher in the Jewish year 5769 with explanatory Rosh Hashanah services at the Multifaith Center at 66 Commonwealth Ave. on Monday evening.
BC Hillel will also be leading explanatory Yom Kippur services at the Multifaith Center on Wednesday, Oct. 8 and Thursday, Oct. 9. For more information on specific times, please e-mail kupchika@bc.edu. All are welcome!
Once again, we wish you all a sweet and successful new year! L'shanah tovah!
Boston College Hillel
Check out model squatter settlement Have you ever come home and though it may not have changed, you have? This is the uncomfortable feeling of having been changed that arises after having returned from the Pedro Arrupe trip to Cuernavaca, Mexico. The immersion experience into world poverty is so profound, with meaning so overwhelming, that expression often loses its words.
We visited a squatter settlement where dilapidated tin roofs and makeshift walls revealed lives brutally humbled by poverty. We saw impoverished neighborhoods where children play next to open sewers and unfinished house walls fail to keep out snakes and scorpions. We traveled up to an indigenous community where children live with the knowledge that they will probably never get out. Residents sometimes asked us why we had come to view their poverty. What separated us from voyeurs? The difference is that we will tell others.
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