Last april, a UNH student heading over to the MUB for a late-morning cup of coffee would have been in for an informal education as well. There, on one side of the eatery, over 100 students, professors and staff members had assembled to discuss the recent NATO bombing in Kosovo. Like many Americans who were upset or puzzled by this turn of events in our nation's foreign affairs, the students in Janet Polasky's Western Civilization class wanted to learn more. So they organized this University-wide forum, inviting an assortment of professors with expertise in central Europe and promoting the event thoughout campus.

Among those attending was UNH sophomore Teuta Hajrizaj, a 20-year-old ethnic Albanian who grew up in Quincy, Mass., and spent six weeks every other summer in Kosovo. As she listened to her fellow students question the benefit of the NATO intervention, her anger flared. "Do you realize the history?" she responded when it was her turn to speak. "Do you remember Hitler?" For Hajrizaj, the so-called ethnic cleansing in Kosovo was history repeating itself.

Vladimir Pistola, a Serbian doctoral student in American history, listened quietly. He felt sympathy for Hajrizaj and the many Kosovars he had seen weeping on national television, but he also worried about his Serbian mother in Belgrade, whom he had tried to comfort over the telephone. Pistola had a broader view. He spoke up, sharing with the crowd his understanding of the complexities of the situation and how he thought the most promising solution would encompass the entire region—a sort of new Marshall Plan.

Many other students, and professors, offered their viewpoints and questions. Was the U.S. involvement economically motivated? Did it play into strategic interests or was it simply the continuation of historic conflicts? The forum offered an opportunity to look at the conflict from different perspectives and to consider the complexities of the issue.

The Kosovo forum is a recent example of how current events bring to life the principles UNH students are studying in class. "In my Western Civ class, I refer to the drawing of the boundaries of what is now Yugoslavia, which opens up a discussion with students of what they have read in the newspaper about Kosovo. It's my hope that by the end of the semester, all the students will have not only developed the habit of reading the paper and listening to 'All Things Considered' on National Public Radio, but will have become critical readers and listeners," Polasky says.

Many professors require students to subscribe to a national newspaper or bring clippings to class. Political science department chair Tom Trout says that in the beginning of a course, he will use current events to illustrate the course's principles; by the end of the course, the direction has switched and the students end up exporting the course's principles and applying them to current events.

The following excerpts are from an informal journey across campus to see how a cross-section of UNH professors are using three examples of current events: the Clinton presidency, global warming and the war in Kosovo. Professors use issues that apply to their curriculum, but they share the hope that students will leave UNH able to think in broader terms, using critical thinking to seek solutions to such complex problems as war, pollution and politics. As associate professor of economics Marc Herold puts it, "The world is an intellectual theater." And for UNH students every year, the curtain is up.

On the Clinton Presidency

Aline Kuntz and I have taught our Gender and Political Ideology course each primary season. Some very interesting women have spoken to our class in the past. Three years ago, I wrote to invite Hillary Clinton. The class laughed at the beginning of the semester when we told them that in addition to Madeleine Kunin, the former governor of Vermont and undersecretary of education, we had invited Mrs. Clinton. And Aline and I were quite surprised when the UNH president's office called the first week in December to tell us that she was coming. The student Democrats had also invited her to campus. She was wonderful. She talked individually with each of the students in the class who were sitting in the front row of the Field House. That she could discuss complex policy issues without notes from the podium as well as notice a little girl who was crying in the front row impressed the students and led to some fascinating discussions of stereotypes.

Michael Goldberg, Economics
Class: Introduction to Economics

The irony of presidential elections is that the incumbent party often wins or loses based on how the economy has performed, and yet the president has little to do with how the economy performs. Of course, politicians will tell you otherwise. The Republicans will argue that the supply-side policies of Reagan and Bush led to the longest peacetime expansion of the economy (at that time) in U.S. history, with a growth rate of 3.6 percent from 1983 to 1989. One of the important lessons I emphasize is that statistics can be very misleading when you lack a basic understanding of the situation. Why do Republicans begin with 1983 instead of 1981, when Reagan took office, and why do they end with 1989 instead of 1992 when Bush left office? It turns out that 1983 was the first year after the worst recessionary period (1980-82) since the Great Depression, and at the end of 1989, the economy was at the top of its expansion. Capitalist economies always generate business cycles involving periods of expansion followed by periods of contraction, and so on. If you measure economic growth from the bottom of a contraction to the top of an expansion, you will always find high growth rates. George Bush lost the presidential election of 1992 largely because of the bad economy of the early 1990s. Was Bush to blame? Not really. The culprit was mainly the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, who started raising interest rates at the end of 1989. The Democrats want you to believe that Clinton's brilliant policies have led to the economic expansion we are still enjoying. Is this true? Not really. Clinton was extremely fortunate to begin his term exactly when the recession of the early 1990s bottomed out. Politicians will tell you what you want to hear, but it's really important to have economic literacy to make sense of what they're telling you.

Drew Christie, Philosophy
Class: Philosophy of Law

To discuss the impeachment of Clinton, I started with the language of the Constitution. What are "high crimes and misdemeanors?" Who decides? Is it purely a political decision or is there another, non-political way of interpreting the Constitution? Philosophers refer to theories of how to interpret texts as hermeneutics. In the West, the Bible was the first book to provoke hermeneutical debate. Are the events described in the Bible allegories or are they literally true? The reader brings a lot to the text—I don't think there's just one way to interpret texts. The Clinton impeachment revolved around relatively few sentences. We looked at ways of interpreting the Constitution. The class had eloquent spokespeople on both sides, and it split the same way the public does, but it was a good, respectful debate.

Penny Webster, Communication Disorders
Class: The Acquisition of Language

We focus on language acquisition and language disorders to help students understand basic aspects of language. I often take something in the media as an example. Clinton handled his denials through speeches and statements using verbal and non-verbal communication. In an interview early on, he used tense to manipulate his denial. He is very, very good at using language. The interviewer asked something like, 'Are you having a relationship?' And he answered 'There is no relationship.' Good liars have excellent linguistic skills and metacognitive awareness—knowing what your face looks like. We discussed a press conference where he used finger wagging and looked directly at people and denied the relationship. We learned that the media later reported that Clinton had been coached by a Hollywood friend.

Joshua Meyrowitz, Communication
Class: Analysis of News

It's important to look at where the news comes from. Most U.S. journalists are not given the time or freedom to report on events they themselves have witnessed or researched in depth. Instead, journalists are usually encouraged to rely on "sources." News organizations generally prefer the most "authoritative" sources, which means the persons in the highest positions of authority, or their spokespeople. The relationship between sources and journalists is mutually beneficial: journalists are able to file stories on deadline, and sources get their versions of events into the news. We now know, for example, that much of the coverage of the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal was driven by behind-the-scenes relationships between the independent counsel's office and journalists. The symbiotic relationship between sources and journalists can be dangerous for the public. Authoritative sources are not always the most knowledgeable on the topic. Sources typically select, shape and distort information for their own purposes, and they usually time the withholding and release of news to suit their own needs. What happens locally, nationally and internationally--and when it happens--may have very little to do with the content and rhythm of the news. During a war, in particular, U.S. journalism tends to be an unofficial mouthpiece for what often turns out to be official government propaganda. We're already seeing major "corrections," for example, in what we were told during the recent Kosovo conflict.

Tom Trout, Political Science
Class: Introduction to Political Science

In the past, political scandals of one sort or another have had an effect on the making of foreign policy. So, for example, I talk about the Watergate and the Iran-Contra scandals and how they shifted the relative balance between the Congress and the President . . . but only temporarily. With Clinton the obvious parallel is the Lewinsky affair. There were lots of assertions in the media, and some in Congress, that Clinton bombed Iraq as a distraction from the Lewinsky scandal, the "Wag the Dog" plot line. What students need to know is that foreign policy is far more complex than that. It would be highly unlikely that all of the elements needed to conduct a bombing campaign against Iraq could be assembled and engaged just to create a distraction. Talking about the assertion that the Iraq bombing was contrived provides an opportunity to show students several things: first, just how complex foreign policy is; second, that the effects of a political scandal really are short-lived; and third, how the President continues to dominate Congress in the making of foreign policy.

On Global Warming

Barry Rock, Natural Resources
Class: Wood Technology

Everyone recognizes that global warming has occurred, and is occurring. The last two decades are the hottest on record, and based on tree ring data, we can push that record back to say they're the hottest in the millennium. My personal belief is that the current warming trend has to do, in part, with greenhouse gases like CO2. In class, we debate the role forests play in mediating carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere: trees take CO2 out of the atmosphere and store it as wood. Forests are our strongest allies. With the changing climate in spring, the maple syrup industry is moving out of New Hampshire--the industry is now centered in the Gaspe Peninsula in Canada. In 1928, it was centered in Garrett County, Maryland. When we think of the impact of global warming, we often don't think of the subtle things that change the lifestyle and flavor of New England.

Drew Christie, Philosophy
Class: Ecology and Values

Taking a direct and participatory approach, the students researched background facts on Web sites that address the issue of whether SUVs (sport utility vehicles) should meet automobile emission standards—currently, they fall under the light truck exception. One of my students said there was no way that SUVs could comply, that SUVs are heavy and need to be heavy. She had an icy commute and needed her four-wheel SUV; for her, it was a fundamental issue of safety. Another student said that CO2 emissions are a more important problem. If we can't control SUVs how can we control CO2? It makes an interesting debate. John Dewey is my favorite philosopher, and he emphasizes in his philosophy of education that teachers must start with the familiar. I think that one of the best things higher education can do is to take events in the news and look at them from different perspectives.

Mimi Becker, Natural Resources
Class: International Environmental Politics & Policies

We try to get our students to be more aware of the ingredients for implementing change under international agreement. A major part of it is that people must be educated, and environmental education becomes a crucial component: students must learn to identify the connections between their personal lifestyle choices, their health and the ability of the Earth to sustain human life. The United States was a leader in environmental policy and problem solving in the '70s and early '80s, but we have lost that leadership edge. As long as we have gridlock in Congress on environmental issues, we are not providing leadership, and we are perceived by most countries as blockers when it comes to meeting our obligations under international environmental agreements. To get commitment and change (of environmental policy), the American public has to be determined to overcome special interests. Without campaign finance reform and citizens committed to protecting both their and the planet's health, I see no way we can achieve long-term, sustainable economic and environmental health.

Global warming doesn't meet media standards of what is newsworthy: timeliness, conflict and proximity. I like to use the analogy of Eastern and Western medicine to explain the American media's approach to news. Western medicine is based on intervention and the treating of a crisis; Eastern medicine is more holistic and preventive, and addresses a conflict across a lifetime. That is why we hear a lot more about plane crashes than we do about global warming or homelessness.

On the Conflict in Kosovo

Nicoletta Gullace, History
Class: Topics in International Affairs

Events like the war in Kosovo are not just flashes in the pan but are events with long and deep roots. In class, we look at the ways that religious groups interact, how culture and ethnicity differ, and how they affect people. We also discuss diplomatic issues like the unprecedented action by NATO in fighting the war and the tension behind Orthodox and Muslim groups. After World War I, the tensions arising to settle the Balkan problem were not resolved. These are still issues which erupt now.

We all have filters which affect how we perceive the world. "We" know less about "them." This explains cliques in children, and "in" groups and "out" groups. (With the war in Kosovo) the press tends to personalize the conflict: Milosovic as the malicious leader. In class, we look at it as a larger issue; we try to contextualize it. What causes ethnic conflict? Not just the personality of Milosevic.

Taking an analytical perspective on the whole thing, why do we see what we see? I look at mass media itself as something that is not completely transparent. The process of producing current events affects what they are. Early on there were few photos of what the KLA did to the Serbs. As the war went on, the Serbs figured out how to manipulate the media, and they would take the Western journalists to places that would show NATO destruction.

To study a country and its history, you have to live in the present. It's like peeling away the skins on an onion. You have to start at the beginning, which is current events. (In Kosovo) the whole business goes back to the division of the Roman Empire. You can't talk about the region without discussing the Ottoman Empire, then going through World War I, the fighting in the Balkans and Russian involvement.

In sociology, "definition of the situation" is a concept that suggests that one cannot understand a situation until he or she is put in the shoes of the other. You cannot start with the notion that your perspective is the only perspective. The general public tends to be poorly informed and to want the easiest answer. But there are no easy answers; this belies the nature of these conflicts.

It gives one pause to think and consider the impact structural engineers can have on society and the quality of life. Structures are taken for granted in this country and elsewhere. But in Belgrade, the citizens camped out on the bridges to save them from being bombed... those bridges meant that much to them.

Elibet Moore Chase '81 is a free-lance writer in Concord, N.H., and a graduate student in the UNH non-fiction writing program.