D.C. Trip Gives Class `Fresh Perspective'

Freshman Cyrus Luhr leaned across the table to ask someone what time it was. His sleepy eyes popped open at the response. "Man, I haven't been up this early all semester," he said.

While most UNC students were rolling into bed after a night of celebration on Franklin Street, Luhr and his classmates were en route to Washington, D.C., for a day packed with museum visits, debriefings and talks with high-ranking officials.

The out-of-the-ordinary trip was just one part of an unusual class. Luhr and 10 other students meet once a week for a class on ethnic cleansing, taught by senior Rye Barcott. The class is one of four new classes taught by undergraduates this semester. After three class meetings about genocide and ethnic cleansing in various locations, the students were on their way to hear about U.S. policy in such cases from the decision-makers themselves.

An Intellectual Life Climate grant, given out of the Office of Distinguished Scholars, allowed Barcott to take his class to the nation's capital.

First stop: the Holocaust Museum, where students spent several hours walking through the exhibits before meeting with Jerry Fowler, the staff director of the Committee on Conscience, for a discussion about current cases of genocide.

Luhr had visited the museum before, but said he appreciated getting another chance to experience it in the context of this class. "It puts more images, gives more knowledge about certain situations that we're learning about," he said.

While some of the students had visited the Holocaust Museum before Friday, the afternoon trip to the National Security Council was a new experience for everyone.

Forty-eight-hour background checks were required to gain clearance to the Old Executive Office Building, where the NSC is housed. Once inside -- after metal detectors and photo ID checks -- students were treated to lectures by two NSC directors of democracy and human rights.

Meg Brown, a senior in the class, said the directors' candor and honesty impressed her. "They were so open about situations, it surprised me," she said. "They were so personal about their opinions rather than just saying 'this is what the administration thinks.'"

Brown said she thought the NSC experience would benefit class discussion. "You can kind of build a class personality or a class opinion, and this lets us see the opinion of others directly involved," she said. "You would never sit there and seriously consider population transfers, but they made you think about it -- it was a fresh perspective."

Barcott plans to incorporate the directors' words into his lesson plans, starting immediately. "I'm going to make (the experience of the NSC) pivotal to the rest of the class ... because it is super-elite, superpowerful, where decisions get made."

But the day was not spent completely in lecture and debriefings. After their meetings with the NSC directors, the students left a conference room with a view of the White House to take a trip to the West Wing itself.

Then it was off to the Army Navy Club for a formal dinner and discussion with members of the NSC and other officials.

And as the small class made its way through Washington, D.C., fighting the cold wind, discussing current affairs with high-ranking officials, surviving taxicab experiences and finally making the trek home to Chapel Hill, another goal of Barcott's was achieved.

"Very few students knew each other before the trip," he said. "It's really a bonding experience for the class -- since it's discussion, this is just going to enhance the dialogue, debate and productivity of the class."