Larry D. Lauer

By watching the news over the last few months it’s possible to see the Greek government as totally dysfunctional, its people too lazy to work a full day, its political leaders as ego driven, and its approach to its membership in the EU as naive.

My wife and I just spent almost three weeks touring Athens and many of the Greek isles. We experienced a Greece that is actually functioning fairly well in spite of high unemployment. Christmas decorations are appearing everywhere, and most restaurants are doing fine. People complain about their extremely high taxes, but I must say that their “enjoy-life everyday” lifestyle came off to me as a healthy alternative to the relentless success-driven world from which I retired!

Simply put, being there was a much different experience than just seeing it on television or in textbook photos or on videos. For example, standing on the Acropolis and walking slowly around the Parthenon is truly an emotional experience. These are familiar images we have all seen in books, magazines, and movies. But when you are actually there you cannot escape the thrill of putting your feet on the same ground where ancient people walked,  worked, fought, worshiped, lived, and debated ideas.

At archeological sites and in museums throughout the Greek isles and in Athens my wife repeatedly commented on how breathtaking it was for her to see the actual artifacts and paintings that she had only seen in art and world history textbooks. Being there connects you directly with the same places where artists painted, philosophers taught, and the historical events that we read about really happened. Now you are the director of your own movie. You decide where to point the camera. You alone determine what to spend more time exploring.

Just walking streets and neighborhoods gives you a good  impression of how people live each day. And talking with only a few of them can provide new insights about their core values and life goals. You find that they can be different from yours, but still engaging and understandable.

And sometimes you may also be disappointed. For example, you may find that many of the charming towns and villages you have seen in travel photos and movies have become overcrowded tourist traps much of the year. But this too is a real life lesson about how the world is constantly changing and the price that is being paid for progress.

Observing people’s daily lives, absorbing cultures and values, making foreign friendships, encountering political and religious conflicts, seeing poverty that you can’t change with your own eyes, and even experiencing the consequences of global warming for yourself… all this and more changes people forever.

Yes, the digital technology revolution can bring great images of the world to the campus experience. And we certainly must use this new and traditional media to enrich our classroom conversations and dialogues. But with the globalization of higher education all of this should just be the preparation for students spending more time experiencing the world first-hand.

One final thought about being there: A new level of fear came over me after experiencing the terrorist killings in Paris while in Athens. After all, I had just traveled through the history of this  ancient land and there was no way now I could ignore the fact that many great societies came to an end because of this kind of extreme intolerance coupled with a disregard for the value of human life.

So, what will it take to bring about tolerance in this world! I still believe that the globalization of higher education is a huge step in the right direction. But last week in Athens I must say it felt like we are now in a race against time.

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Reflecting over 50 years of struggling to help people and institutions make themselves better understood I offer the following lessons:

1. Once people have made a commitment to a point of view it is almost impossible to change their minds. So in the case of ISIS today, military and/or political solutions seem to be the only immediate options.

2. But it is not too late for mayors and city managers to collaborate on both communication and action initiatives that will enable Muslim groups to feel better connected to genuine opportunities. Hopelessness and despair in the multi-cultural ghettos of the world’s great cities can still be addressed.

3. This is also a moment that top Muslim leaders can and should seize to plan and launch a major communication campaign to explain Islam to the world. This is because the world’s news media will be looking for new breaking news stories right now, and the timing is especially right for this one. But to be effective at a time like this a story must cut through mounds of negative information clutter. And to do so it must be a completely positive, simple, and endlessly repeated description of what Islam stands for and what it does not.

4. This is also a “right time” opportunity for the leaders of the Western world to unite behind their shared democratic values. However, for this to ring credible politicians and prominent leaders in every country will have to be willing to find the right common language to “rally” everyone behind their president or top leader, no matter political background or past mistakes. Common cause must become the unifier. Blame must be left for historians. Dissent can be accommodated, but not at this time among the leaders.

It’s true that 24/7 news coverage can make it difficult to get beyond many momentary crises. But continuing news coverage in a crisis of ISIS magnitude might prove to be helpful. It can provide an opportunity for the Western world to unite around shared values, a catalyst for addressing ghetto neighborhood hopelessness, a new opportunity for top Islamic leaders to make their religion better understood, and a perfect “teachable moment” for educators and students everywhere around the world.

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