A University of Maryland honors course offered in partnership with the American University of Afghanistan has been canceled this semester after terrorists killed 13 people in an attack on AUAF last month
The Honors College had planned to offer the seminar HONR376Q: Islamic Radicalization Drivers of Youth in the United States and Afghanistan this fall. During the course, students would conduct research with their peers in Kabul using teleconference technology, according to an email sent by Dean Hebert, the Honors College assistant director, to honors students. Students in the class would “identify, analyze and compare” drivers of radicalism in both societies, and offer recommendations on how to respond, the email said.
However, one day after announcing the course, Hebert notified students that it would not be offered.
“Unfortunately, as you may already know, AUAF was attacked by terrorists 10 days ago and they are in the process of recover. So we are unable to offer the course this semester,” he wrote in an email.
After a suicide car bombing breached security walls, two attackers stormed the AUAF campus with explosives and automatic weapons on Aug. 24. The attack left seven students, three police officers, two security guards and one teacher dead, the Associated Press reported. No group claimed responsibility for the attack, though a Taliban spokesman told media the group is investigating.
Honors College associate director Cathy Barks said she believes the course will be offered in the future, hopefully as early as this spring.
“It’s something that we’ll keep working on and try to work out as AUAF goes through this horrible time of crisis,” Barks said. “They are closed right now. They will be reopening again as soon as possible, they’re not going to let this attack defeat them, but, you know, things are just in flux right now.”
