• "Court won't block UNC Islam assignment" from CNN.com,
• "Koran Dispute" from ABCNews.com, and
• "University's Quran Reading Stirs Controversy" from FOXNews.com.

Numerous groups of people find this topic to be quite controversial, enough that a lawsuit has developed. Think about these different groups of people, the events of September 11^th, and the aftermath of the World Trade Center bombing; consider how these different people / events affect American society. What changes have you seen in American society as a result of September 11^th? Are the concerns of these different groups rational and / or justified?

You may—but don't have to—choose to focus on:

• How does the UNC issue fit within the regulations established by the Constitution? Some argue UNC's assignment is protected by freedom of speech while others argue for separation of church and state... Which do you think applies most here? How does interpretation of the First Amendment affect the appropriateness of such an assignment? What is the actual intent of the First Amendment, and how does that affect the perception of this issue?
• If the intent of the assignment at UNC is merely to educate—exploring a religion that has become a curiosity for many Americans (who happen to have many misinformed beliefs about Islam)—why are people so opposed to the reading of this book? What is it about the beliefs these people hold that causes them to oppose UNC's assignment? How do their belief structures influence their interpretation of UNC's assignment?
• What benefits do you think could come from UNC's assignment? How could UNC's assignment help to enlighten people and eliminate stereotypes? If there are such benefits to such an assignment, why do people oppose it? How could the creators of this assignment overcome such opposition to their educational goals?

This paper is due Tuesday, September 17^th.