CU faculty lecture on Islam at Ithaca High School

Munther Younes, Cornell senior lecturer in Near Eastern studies, speaks to Ithaca High School students March 24 in the high school's York Lecture Hall during this year's David Nosanchuk Memorial Lecture Series titled "Islam: Breaking the Stereotypes." Frank DiMeo/University Photography

By John Wilson '98

The 1961 film El Cid opens with an 11th century African emir pledging to invade Spain and execute Christians. Shortly thereafter, images of a burned-out church appear, indicating that the aggressor had been true to his word.

"Is there anything wrong with that picture?" Ross Brann, Cornell chair and professor of Near Eastern studies, asked students at Ithaca High School last week. "Do we make movies about it when Christians and Jews kill for their religion?"

Brann's answer was no, we don't. And the situation has not changed substantially since El Cid was produced a quarter-century ago, Brann argued, showing a clip from the 1991 movie Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves.

Despite the fact that there are more than 6 million Muslims living in the United States, popular depictions of Islam remain dark and mysterious, and most Americans know little about the religion, Brann said. In order to be informed citizens in a world with a population that is 20 percent Muslim, he advised, "Americans had best get to know their neighbors."

Brann's presentation opened the 1998 David Nosanchuk Memorial Lecture Series at Ithaca High School March 23 through 27, which had as its subject "Islam: Breaking the Stereotypes." The annual event is named in honor of the Ithaca High senior who died in a 1983 swimming accident. David Nosanchuk was the son of Barbara and Jerome Nosanchuk, who is an adjunct professor of veterinary medicine at Cornell.

Each year the series focuses on a topic that is either controversial or not normally treated in high school curricula. The 1998 program included some 15 talks and panel discussions about such themes as Islam in different parts of the world, gender and law in Islamic society and even Persian geometry. Approximately 10 Cornell faculty and staff delivered talks during the series.

A question-and-answer period followed each session. Several students attending Brann's lecture wondered if the professor was interpreting the films too loosely. Perhaps, they said, the violence committed by the Islamic characters was not a function of their religious identity but merely a reflection of the directors' desire to attract moviegoers who like to watch violent films.

Brann defended his position, but added: "You guys are good critics. I invite you to apply to Cornell."

Omar Afzal, technical services assistant in Cornell Library and a local Islamic leader, asked his audience to see beyond stereotypes of Muslims. "Islam is not about the veil, having four wives, bombing Beirut and taking hostages in Iran. It is a belief system," he said, describing his daily cycle of prayers.

Social studies teachers at Ithaca High School said they appreciated local experts' willingness to participate in the lecture series. "The Near Eastern studies faculty really outdid itself," said teacher Maryterese Pasquale-Bowen, a 1973 Cornell graduate who works to organize the event each year.

In addition to its involvement with the Nosanchuk series, the Department of Near Eastern Studies sponsored a one-day trip to New York for Cornell undergraduates interested in cultures of the Middle East March 29. Guided by department faculty, about 30 students visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Jewish Museum and other sites of Middle Eastern cultural interest.

"We do this sort of thing to create opportunities for the faculty and students to interact with one another outside the classroom in a different kind of learning experience," said Brann, the department chair.

The trip was funded by a Stephen and Margery Russell Award for Excellence in Teaching received by the department, as well as the Undergraduate Education Fund in the College of Arts and Sciences, administered by Associate Dean Lynne Abel.