\n<\/p>\n
To the editor,<\/p>\n
I write in response to Ryan Quinn\u2019s\u00a0recent article\u00a0(\u201cThe Battle for \u2018Viewpoint Diversity\u2019\u201d Sept. 2, 2025) on the new civic center at Utah State University, which mandates general education courses on Western civilization. In his words: \u201cUtah\u2019s Legislature created a civic center at Utah State University committed to \u2018viewpoint diversity and civil discourse\u2019\u00a0\u2026 Those courses must include three that engage with \u2018primary texts predominantly from Western civilization,\u2019 such as ancient Israel, Greece or early Christianity. There\u2019s no mention of Islam.\u201d<\/p>\n
Well, there\u2019s no mention of Shintoism, Confucianism or Buddhism, either, but I fail to see what\u2019s puzzling about excluding Islam from a \u201cWestern civilization\u201d curriculum. Islam\u2019s primary texts played no part in the political construction of the West. Quinn\u2019s implied request is analogous to demanding that a curriculum devoted to Aztec or Inca civilization include the Bible simply because Spain invaded, conquered, subjugated and colonized those societies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As a matter of civics, the distinction between the Islamic world and the West is foundational and elementary. It is recognized historically and intellectually by all who have studied the West\u2019s construction.<\/p>\n
Most Americans\u2014and by extension, our education systems\u2014naturally focus on their own historical and cultural heritage. We\u2019re in the United States; courses here typically reflect what shaped this nation: Greco-Roman republicanism, state Christianity and Enlightenment ideals. People are curious how and why our country got to where it is. If we taught in Iran, China or elsewhere, the focus would reflect their heritage\u2014not ours.<\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t a value judgment. It\u2019s just a fact. As odd as it sounds, the United States was conceived as a reactivation of the Roman Republic 1,800 years after it came to an abrupt halt. The Founders\u00a0live action role played as ancient Romans\u00a0in their writings. It\u2019s strange, but that\u2019s precisely why it fascinates students. So these texts are not political baggage; they\u2019re intriguing questions of origin and identity.<\/p>\n
\u00a0The question here isn\u2019t moral judgment or wishful thinking. It\u2019s scholarly clarity. Let\u2019s demand substance, not ideology.<\/p>\n
Mike Fontaine is a professor of classics at Cornell University.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" To the editor, I write in response to Ryan Quinn\u2019s\u00a0recent article\u00a0(\u201cThe Battle for \u2018Viewpoint Diversity\u2019\u201d Sept. 2, 2025) on the new civic center at Utah State University, which mandates general education courses on Western civilization. In his words: \u201cUtah\u2019s Legislature created a civic center at Utah State University committed to \u2018viewpoint diversity and civil discourse\u2019\u00a0\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20235,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[12451,4460,1906,12450,11678],"class_list":{"0":"post-20234","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-education","8":"tag-civics","9":"tag-curricula","10":"tag-guides","11":"tag-ideology","12":"tag-scholarship"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20234","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20234\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}