URI course on 9/11. The real deal, or more bunk?

Amidst the gloom and doom of the 9/11 conspiracy theorists like Ward Churchill and UNH’s very own "nutty professor", comes URI’s Professor Alain-Phillip Durand. Seems he wants his students to not forget the events and ramifications of September 11th and put some real thought into that tragic day. As reported by Jessica Medeiros in that school’s student newspaper, "The Good 5cent Cigar", there will be a new class offered at the University.
11/28/06 – Are we in danger of forgetting about 9/11? Professor Alain-Phillip Durand is concerned that may be a possibility.
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In an effort to prevent this, Durand has developed an honors class that will analyze fiction and non-fiction books and films that address the events of Sept. 11.
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Durand said 9/11 is too often ignored in the classroom, and it is important to address so that students are informed and knowledgeable about the issue.
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"I hope that after taking my class students will have a better understanding of the perspectives surrounding this event and also be able to confront the issues dealing with this event and memories of it," he said.
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According to Durand, one of the best ways to achieve this is to expose students to literature and films relating to 9/11.
Of course, the devil is in the details. What works of "fiction" will be included? Is this simply cover for more of the aforementioned 9/11 tales about George W. Bush and the Israelis orchestrating the attack? While this question is not answered directly in the article, the editorial page of The Good 5Cent Cigar puts it like this

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Gorky Park redux…

The ongoing mystery of the now-murdered former Russian intelligence officer is the stuff of action-adventure-intrigue novels. You  know the story: Russian officer with the supposed "reformed" intelligence agency becomes disaffected, sees wrongs of "the system", defects. Reveals secrets. Hunted down by assasin sanctioned by the highest levels of the Russian government, and, sometimes, killed. With the … Read more

Is there something in our water?

As Skip reported in this previous post, it has been revealed that our state’s taxpayer-subsidized university system has its very own version of Ward Churchill (9/11 victims = "little Eichmans")- UNH psychology professor William Woodward. The tenured professor  believes a secret group within the highest levels of the US government organized and perpetrated the September 11 attacks through the use of "steering pods" attached to the jetliners and explosives planted in the buildings.
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Today’s Union Leader provides some further details about the professor’s courses and his classroom "teachings":
Woodward is teaching two courses this fall. PSYC 571 is described as an "historical introduction to some of the great psychologists and their classic works." The other course, PSYC 791, is a course that Woodward says he conceived a decade ago called "Psychology and Race."
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In that course, he says, he introduces his 9/11 theory during a particular class session devoted to the subject of "state terrorism vs. individual terrorism."
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Woodward said he shows a clip, roughly 10 minutes in length, from a film called "The Great Conspiracy: The 9/11 News Special You Never Saw." The film, produced and narrated by Canadian journalist Barrie Zwicker, contends the U.S. government’s account of the 9/11 attacks is "the overarching fiction and crime and coverup of our time."
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In the film, Zwicker claims the Mexican-American War, the Spanish-American War and the attack on Pearl Harbor "all involved secretly contrived attacks on Americans planned or encouraged by American Presidents."
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"Many spectacular acts of terrorism are fearsome fakeries carried out by cabals within governments," Zwicker says. "And I mean our own governments."
While our enemies are indoctrinating their children with an automaton-like desire to murder each and every one of us, this is the garbage some of our children are being taught (at taxpayer expense) in schools of "higher learning."
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Guess what? Professor Woodward isn’t alone in having a platform here in NH to fill young minds with foolishness…

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