Several Loyola professors have decided to alter their courses in response to the events of Sept. 11.

Professors in the departments of religious studies and history say that they have felt the need to address the issue of Sept. 11 and the events that led up to it in their classes.

“After September 11, I totally changed my syllabus to include more of an emphasis on Judaism, Christianity and Islam, in place of the Asian religions we were studying,” said Catherine Wessinger, associate professor of religious studies.

Wessinger, who has done academic work in the field of religion and violence, said that she has found a new textbook for and changed the format of her honors world religions class, which now focuses more on the role of world religion in the contemporary world, including the role of religion in various conflicts.

In addition, Wessinger said that when appropriate, she attempts to bring in other information to help shed light on what happened.

Sarah Gualtieri, assistant professor of history, also changed her coursework.

“I changed the final week of my spring history class to include readings on religious extremism and violence in the region. . . . It was a good learning experience for me and for my students, and I plan to include these readings again next spring,” Gualtieri said.

“My enrollments are up. . . There is a new interest in the region (of the Middle East) and Islam in particular.”

David Moore, history department chairman said, “I think that we are more happy than ever that we have filled the position of Middle- Eastern historian.This was a new area for the Loyola history department.”

Gualtieri joined the department last year.

Moore said he feels that students now have a present example they can reference to increase their understanding of concerns of terrorism in this time or in the past.

While Sept. 11 gave the necessary push to implement new curriculum, one department was a jump ahead.

“Our department had already discussed offering more classes in global sociology, and reference has been made to the increasing student interest in issues of global economics and inequality,” said Timothy Ladd, associate professor of sociology and former chair of the department.

There has also been talk about more interdisciplinary offerings in the area of Middle Eastern studies, Moore said.

These discussions had been happening prior to Sept. 11.

Some feel that the increase in Middle Eastern issues that followed Sept. 11 has not been sufficient.

“I was hoping for more of an increase. . . that people would start looking outside of the West, but this hasn’t happened enough, in my opinion,” says Candice Gregory, history instructor.

“While there has been an increase in surface interest, especially in the press, it hasn’t gone much deeper than that.”