In the midst of international conflict, a group of Ball State students spent last week in New York City. The group is spending the semester studying the correlation between democracy and education.
The students who traveled to New York are involved in a project called "Democracy and Education" at the Virginia B. Ball Center for Creative Inquiry. The project is led by Thalia Mulvihill, a professor in the department of educational studies.
A few members of the group were in Times Square Wednesday night when President Bush announced the attack on Iraq. The students joined a large crowd of people gathered on Broadway Street to watch the television screens.
By Thursday the mood in the city had changed considerably. New Yorkers swarmed the streets to voice their opinions on the war, and more and more police were needed to keep things under control. Senior Audie Whitaker said he noticed an overall change in the area's atmosphere.
"This has been on the hearts and minds of everyone," he said, "especially in New York, where I think everyone feels like they could get hit again at any moment. It's personal to them."
Mulvihill also noticed a significant change after Bush's announcement.
"When the news arrived that our American military had begun to strike targets within Iraq there seemed to be a collective pause in the city and then the usual spirited debates, a hallmark of a democracy, began," she said. "Discussions on the street, on the subways, and in the shops seemed to generate expressions of mixed reactions to the violence that was now imminent in the region."
Some students saw anti-war protests on the streets during the day on Thursday. Junior Brian Distler repeated the following chants that he heard on the streets:
"One, two, three, four -- we don't want your racist war."
"Hey Bush, we know you, your father was a killer too."
Mulvihill said she feels education plays a great role in a democratic society. The chance to be in New York City during a time of conflict may help some of her students better understand the magnitude of the situation and how democracy will affect their future as educators, she said.
"The current state of affairs throughout the world provides an ever-present reminder of the need for engaged discussions about the role education plays in preserving and transforming democracy, and the absolute need for education students to be actively engaged in these discussions," she said.
For more information about the program, visit www.bsu.edu/vbc.
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