Response: 9/11 as Political Trauma
Jocelyne Cesari
September 11, 2019
Just weeks after universities around the country welcome new first-year students to campus, the nation will mark the eighteenth anniversary of the tragic events of September 11, 2001. The terrorist attacks carried out nearly two decades ago have arguably shaped global politics more than any other event in recent history, and the effects are still actively playing out today. To incoming students from Generation Z, however, 9/11 was not a lived experience; it occurred before most of their lifetimes. For them, 9/11 is a historical event conveyed in textbooks—a frame of reference for current affairs that carries no emotional weight for most people in their generation.
This week the Berkley Forum explores the generational differences in perceptions of 9/11 by asking respondents from across the age spectrum to reflect on the September 11 attacks and how they either witnessed the world change firsthand or how they understand the impact of that critical historical event.
In the Series
Response: 9/11/19: Our Age Comes of Age
Paul Elie
September 11, 2019
Response: 9/11: Keeping Vigil
Amelia Uelmen
September 11, 2019
Response: A Challenging Point of Entry: Beginning to Study Islam After 9/11
Henry D. Brill
September 11, 2019
Response: Building Muslim-Christian Relationships in a World Transformed: Impacts of the Attacks of 9/11
Leo Lefebure
September 11, 2019
Response: Coming of Age in the 9/11 Era
Claudia Winkler
September 11, 2019
Response: Impossible to Forget: Reflecting on 9/11 as a Marker of Life
Katherine Marshall
September 11, 2019
Response: Ripple Effects of 9/11: Radicalization, Refugees, and Depolarization in Global Context
Marjorie Mandelstam Balzer
September 11, 2019
Response: “United We Stand, Divided We Fall”: One Foe, Two Countries, Two Responses
Rafael Escobedo
September 11, 2019
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