The Mug

Fellow BICers,

Greetings and welcome to the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core! We are truly blessed to have another class of some of the most talented and intelligent students that Baylor has to offer join the program that we have come to love. The transition from high school to college, from your parents’ house to a dorm can be challenging. But when you joined the BIC, you joined a tightly woven community of motivated individuals who look out for and take care of each other. It will take some time for you all to meet your several hundred mentors here in the BIC program, but making your way through our cohort will be extremely worthwhile.

As the BIC Leadership Council, each of our four committees is dedicated to ensuring that the BIC is as strong and productive as possible. While the Events Committee, needless to say, plans activities that bring our cohort closer together, the Alumni Committee links BIC graduates with current students, delivering valuable insight. While the Academic Committee links BIC students to their professors (proving that they are normal people as well as geniuses), the QuickBIC helps connect BIC students to each other and to the larger world. Just as the BIC links disciplines of thought and study, as the BICLC we hope to encourage you to connect with each other.

If you are interested in any of our committees, we encourage you to apply and contribute. We are looking for driven, creative individuals who are excited about deriving the most from their BIC experience. Apply here.

To keep up with what’s happening in BIC throughout the year, be sure to follow us on Facebook.

We hope you enjoy your first year at Baylor and learn more than you thought possible in a single semester through BIC. Welcome to BIC, welcome to an examined life!

Best,

Your BIC Leadership Council

Want to know about Dr. Cann but can’t make it to BIC Café? No worries! Here is a short Q&A with Dr. Cann that will help you get to know her better.

1) Are you a morning person or a night owl?
Morning (after coffee) person

2) What is your favorite food?
Anything Asian– Thai, Indian, and Japanese are the top three

3) What is/was your favorite teaching moment?
Honestly, my favorite teaching moments have been with my daughter– watching her grow as a person and seeing her develop character and compassion for the world. My favorite moments with my students have been watching them develop into people I am proud of and who have taught me to be a better person.

4) What are some of your hobbies?
Yoga, reading, traveling, and finding little hole-in-the-wall local places

5) What type of music do you listen to?
The Weepies, World music, and Hawaiian music

6) If you hadn’t become a professor, what would you be doing now?
My church in Hawaii wanted to send me to seminary to become a priest, so I would probably be working for the church. I have wanted to work in some capacity with religion since I was a kid so I became a Religion professor.

7) Would you rather have an all-you-can-read library (with every book ever written in it) or an all-you-can-eat buffet with all of your favorite foods?
I’d take the food! There’s not much vegetarian food in Waco, and I would love to have the night off from cooking. Plus I already have too many books and don’t know where I could put any more.

What could the modern Republic of Kenya and ancient Judea, the birthplace of Judaism, have in common? Unfortunately, both of these nations have been plagued by acts of terrorism centered on both cultural and religious strife. While acts of terrorism in ancient Judea revolved around Jewish resistance to Roman occupation beginning around 63 BCE, the Republic of Kenya is actively enduring attacks from Islamic extremist group Shabab, an offshoot of Boko Haram, a Nigeria-based branch of ISIL – most recently – an attack on Garissa University that resulted in the deaths of 147 people. Who are these terrorists? What are their motivations? To find out, let’s travel back to the golden age of Roman expansionism.

In 63 BCE, Judea was subjugated by Roman forces under the leadership of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, more commonly known as Pompey, and made a client kingdom under Roman control. While there was certainly religious and cultural tension between the Western ideals of the pagan Romans and the Jewish traditions of the Hebrew people, these issues did not truly boil to the surface until the beginning of the Common Era when a group of anti-Roman Hebrew citizens, identified as “Zealots” by the Romano-Jewish scholar Josephus, began orchestrating acts of terrorism against their Roman overlords.

In 39 CE, these tensions were only further ignited when the Roman emperor Caligula decreed that he was a deity and ordered that a statue commemorating his immortalization be placed in every temple within the Roman Empire, including Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem, the largest and most important temple in Hebrew tradition. As Hebrew doctrine explicitly forbids the worship of idols, Hebrew citizens, extremist or not, vehemently opposed this order.

Shortly following Caligula’s order, a new extremist group known as the “Sicarii” emerged. Coming from the Latin word “sica,” meaning “dagger,” the Sicarii were known for the short daggers that they used to carry out their furtive killings. These extremists would murder their targets in large crowds, quickly and quietly, then disappear into the crowd. The Sicarii targeted Roman and Jewish officials alike, skewering all who stood in their way. It was the acts of the Sicarii that greatly influenced the Great Rebellion of 66 CE in which the outraged Roman masses rioted and killed the small garrison of Roman soldiers stationed in Jerusalem. The Romans responded with a contingent of 60,000 soldiers who crushed the Jewish rebellion, destroying Solomon’s temple in the process as recompense. Josephus cites the Sicarii as ultimately responsible for the destruction of Judaism’s most important landmark.

Similarly, just as the Sicarii fought against a religion that challenged their own, the members of the Shabab are fighting and killing Christians. On April 2, 2015, four to ten armed members of Shabab attacked the University of Garissa, separating Christian from Islamic students and murdering those who were deemed Christian. Kenyan commandos arrived on scene shortly after shots were reported and eliminated the Shabab threat. In their rampage, however, the extremist militants killed 147 people, comprised of students, guards, and faculty.

The Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack that morning, stating that it was an “operation against the infidels.” Moreover, the Shabab have said that any Islamic individuals who associate with Christians will not be protected and are just as deserving of death. While the Shabab want to single-out and attack Christians in particular, these extremists also wish to enact revenge against the Kenyan government. As such, spokesperson for the Shabab stated that their attack was in response to the 2011 Kenyan incursion into Somalia in which Kenyan forces attacked Shabab strongholds.

While this attack has only increased tensions between Christian and Islamic groups in Kenya, President Uhuru Kenyatta claimed that he would directly combat these acts of terrorism, recalling 10,000 police recruits to active duty.

Why does this matter? Terrorists have been present throughout history, projecting their extremist ideals through violence. However, in the same way that the Sicarii are not indicative of the doctrines and ideals of Judaism, neither are the Shabab nor Boko Haram indicative of Islamic doctrine or ideals. Terrorists resort to violence because their ideals are extreme – by definition, they cannot be logical. Terrorism has been present throughout history, but that does not mean this menace cannot be stopped. There will always be extremists, but as long as there are those who will fight with compassion for the safety of others the terrorists will never be able to win.

How should modern governments respond to acts of terrorism? Did President Kenyatta respond appropriately to the recent attack? Leave a comment below.

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? All are welcome! Email me at Lee_Shaw@baylor.edu

Further reading on the massacre at Garissa University in Kenya:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/07/world/africa/setbacks-press-shabab-fighters-to-kill-inexpensively.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/03/world/africa/garissa-university-college-shooting-in-kenya.html?_r=0
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/05/world/africa/kenyans-identify-relatives-killed-at-college.html

Further reading on Jewish-Roman Wars:
http://www.historynet.com/terrorism-in-the-ancient-roman-world.htm
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/revolt.html
http://www.livius.org/ja-jn/jewish_wars/jwar03.html
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0021_0_21428.html
http://terrorism.about.com/od/groupsleader1/p/Sicarii.htm

Our ancestors, in their wisdom, considered that all women, because of their innate weakness, should be under the control of guardians.
– Cicero

What could your favorite ancient empire, Rome, the home of St. Augustine and Virgil, Dante’s guide through Hell, and modern Afghanistan have in common? While Rome is often considered to be the crucible of western culture, and Afghanistan to be indicative of modern Middle Eastern culture, these two cultures have an unfortunate similarity: they both devalue women. Before the first century AD, ancient Roman women lived under the rule of their fathers until they were married off, at which point they would submit to the rule of their husbands. As the above Cicero passage indicates, women had no means of defending themselves, physically or legally, without a male “guardian.”

Unfortunately, the situation in modern Afghanistan is not much better. Seeing Afghani women as marginalized, the U.S. military began an initiative in 2013 in which it began encouraging women to become police officers through specialized programs. This process, however, while succeeding in introducing women into the police force, has done little to rectify gender inequality in Afghanistan. This program has instead put women in danger. Is this program the best manner of introducing gender equality to the Middle East? To find out, let’s journey once more to Rome.

As previously stated, women in ancient Rome were not equal to men. For instance, after Emperor Augustus rose to power following the Roman civil wars, he instituted the Lex Julia et Papia-Poppaea, which are now simply known as the Augustinian Marriage Laws. These laws required that women from the ages of twenty-five to sixty had to be married, thus assuring that they would have the proper “guardians” and that the Roman population would increase.

While some historians argue that Romans valued the institution of marriage more than many of their Greek counterparts, women were by no means equal in Roman society. Of course, wealthy Roman women enjoyed more liberties than their poorer counterparts, which makes it very interesting that women from every echelon of Roman society participated in gladiatorial conflicts in the coliseum.

I’m sure many of us have seen Ridley Scott’s Gladiator, featuring Russell Crowe shouting “Are you not entertained?” after vanquishing his gladiatorial opponents. The gladiatorial games were common throughout the Roman Empire, constituting a very popular form of ancient entertainment. Surprisingly, both wealthy and poor women participated in gladiatorial conflict. In most cases, slave women would be forced into the coliseum and placed against various enemies such as beasts, other women or, according to Dio Cassius, “dwarfs.”

Despite displaying their strength and prowess through these battles, such women were still stamped with the infamia, a legal disability that was bestowed on prostitutes. On the other hand, wealthy women from aristocratic families also fought in the coliseum. Why would someone with money and more power than most subject herself to this struggle? In some cases, these women wanted to prove themselves, fighting to the death in defense of their family name or their own honor. More often than not, these women were forced to fight by their families in order that they attract the attention of other wealthy families. But even wealthy women were not truly respected for their feats in the ring. By 11 A.D., Emperor Augustus had banned freeborn Roman women from appearing in gladiatorial combat, seeing the practice as an embarrassment.

What does this have to do with modern Afghani policewomen? Unfortunately, modern Afghani women found themselves in a very similar situation. While Afghani women have become active members in various police forces throughout Afghanistan, many of these women are victims of sexual assault. Although they are official officers of the law, they are not even respected by male officers and are more likely to be assaulted by their colleagues than by criminals.

In fact, a study conducted in 2013 found that of the 130 policewomen who were interviewed, 70% had been sexually assaulted. Moreover, even though these women are helping to secure peace in Afghanistan, much like Roman gladiatrices they are viewed among the likes of prostitutes, dishonoring their families. Many Afghani policewomen are afraid to wear their uniforms in public, fearing that they will be assaulted on the spot.

After Afghani policewoman Parveena Sardar was shot to death by the Taliban, none of the six mullahs in her local town would bury her or lead her funeral service. The stigma runs deep.

BIC freshman have recently read works written by early feminists who took a stand against the objectification and sexualization of women that has ravaged humanity for centuries. The common misconception is that feminists hate men—and this is simply not true. Feminists also do not think women should have more than men. Feminists are people who believe that men and women are not equal but should be equal. Even in the United States, women still are not fully equal to their male counterparts in many workplaces and industries.

In places like Afghanistan, however, the situation is extremely dire in that women are being threatened with death for expressing themselves. In Afghanistan, women are compared with prostitutes for reaching positions of authority, such as law enforcement. Gender inequality has been an issue throughout history, but in Afghanistan women are only slightly better off than those in ancient Rome, and that is unacceptable.

What can be done to fight gender inequality in Afghanistan and in the world as a whole? Is this policewoman program the best way to fix the problem? Should it be stopped? Leave a comment below.

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? All are welcome! Email me at Lee_Shaw@baylor.edu

Further reading on the Gladiatrices:
http://www.tribunesandtriumphs.org/gladiators/female-gladiators.htm
http://www.womenintheancientworld.com/augustanreformation.htm
http://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/women.html

Further reading on Afghani Policewomen:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/02/world/asia/afghan-policewomen-struggle-against-culture.html?ref=world&_r=0
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/10702626/The-Afghan-policewomen-taking-on-the-Taliban.html

When you hear the phrase, “hate crime,” what is the first thought that comes to your mind? Do you think of 9/11? Do you think about the Holocaust that occurred during World War II? Perhaps you think of the KKK or the Black Panthers or the advance of ISIS through Southwest Asia. Despite our increasingly advanced culture, hate crimes remain a very real issue in the United States and in most countries throughout our world. According to the National Crime Prevention Council, “The U.S. Department of Justice defines hate crime as ‘the violence of intolerance and bigotry, intended to hurt and intimidate someone because of their race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, or disability.’” Considering this definition, could one consider the recent shooting and killing of three unarmed Muslims in Chapel Hill, North Carolina to be a hate crime? In order to find out, let’s take a look back at the writings of the legendary Greek historian, Herodotus.

Herodotus was a Greek historian who lived during the fifth century B.C. who systematically compiled hundreds upon hundreds of years of Greek history. It is through Herodotus that modern historians have found the most information regarding the Greco-Persian Wars, the conflict between the Greek city-states of Sparta and Athens, waged from 549 to 494 B.C. against the Persian Empire. According to Herodotus, the general enmity between these cultures is the result of multiple kidnappings. Herodotus states, “ [The Greeks] manned a ship of war, and sailed to Aea, a city of Colchis, on the river Phasis; from whence, after dispatching the rest of the business on which they had come, they carried off Medea, the daughter of the king of the land” (1.2). Many years later, the Persians responded with a similar violence; “Alexander the son of Priam, bearing these events in mind, resolved to procure himself a wife out of Greece by violence, fully persuaded that as the Greeks had not given satisfaction for their outrages so neither would he be forced to make any for his. Accordingly, he made prize of Helen” (1.3). These hostilities only increased over time, resulting in two attempted Persian invasions of the Greek mainland and countless Greek counter-attacks. As such, many cities were destroyed, many soldiers and civilians were killed, and cultural enmity between the Greeks and Persians came to a boil. These conflicts are romanticized and dramatized in Zack Snyder’s films 300 and 300: Rise of an Empire. While the Spartans and Athenians did not go to war shirtless, as these films suggest, the general Persian dislike of the Greeks—and vice-versa—is well expressed in these movies.

As such, it seems that hate crime has been present in a great deal of human history. When the Persians sacked Greek cities it was not because the Greeks had done anything wrong but because of their differing culture. Similarly, when Greeks “liberated” Persian settlements, it was because they deemed Greek culture to be superior to that of the Persians. Such discrimination is still apparent in American culture today, as expressed in the Chapel Hill shootings that occurred last week. An armed gunman made his way into the apartment of his neighbors, a newly wed Islamic couple and shot the two along with the bride’s sister, each in the head. After increasing pressure from the American Muslim community and many nations around the world, most notably through the phrase #muslimlivesmatter on twitter, the FBI has recently begun investigating the killings as a hate crime.

President Obama said in an official statement in regards to the shooting, “No one in the United States of America should ever be targeted because of who they are, what they look like, or how they worship. As we saw with the overwhelming presence at the funeral of these young Americans, we are all one American family.” This now federal case is not completely black and white; while the gunman presented himself as a dedicated antitheist on his Facebook page, the man’s wife claims that he was not driven by a religious hate but by a parking-related conflict between himself and the couple. In the same way, it could be said that the Greco-Persian Wars were a result of deeply-rooted territorial conflict rather than tension between the Greek and Persian cultures. Very few such cases, whether ancient or modern, are strictly black and white. But, as evidence shows, hate crimes have plagued human history since its inception, so we must not be so fast to rule out the possibility that such is the case with the shooting in Chapel Hill.

What do you think? Is this act of aggression a hate crime? Or do you think the gunman had other motives? Leave a comment below.

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? All are welcome! Email me at Lee_Shaw@baylor.edu

Further reading on the Greco-Persian Wars:

http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/txt/ah/herodotus/Herodotus1.html

http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?ParagraphID=cee

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/244117/Greco-Persian-Wars

Further reading on the Chapel Hill Shooting:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/14/us/fbi-inquiry-muslim-student-killings-chapel-hill-north-carolina.html?_r=0

http://www.npr.org/2015/02/13/385846609/chapel-hill-shooting-victims-were-radiant-teacher-says

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/12/us/muslim-student-shootings-north-carolina.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/13/us/chapel-hill-north-carolina-mourns-death-of-three-muslim-students.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/13/us/chapel-hill-neighbors-say-they-felt-threatened-by-man-held-in-killings.html

http://www.ncpc.org/topics/hate-crime

I walk into my Tuesday 8 a.m., unsure of what to expect. “Rhetoric I,” the class is called. An intense name for a freshman BIC course, but then again, I’m not even really sure what the BIC is. My classmates and I avoid eye contact with one another, but when our eyes do happen to meet we are sizing each other up, wondering how smart the other is. And then sheepishly, we look away.

A blonde woman walks in. She’s dressed far more fashionably than I am, and she is alert, a hop in her step. She puts her coffee down on the desk and lets her bag slide off her shoulder. Her voice is soft and gentle. Without even trying, she commands our attention.

“How are you guys?” she asks.

Scattered responses — some say “good,” the pretentious ones say “well” — but she persists. She asks us how we’re settling in, how we’re adjusting. I can’t recall exactly what we talked about for the next hour or so, but I do remember us all leaving in a cheery mood. We felt comfortable. Dr. Walden made us feel comfortable.

As the semester continued, comfort transformed quickly into trust. The shyness faded as the once quiet class became a gurgling stream, overflowing with eager, confident ideas; some insightful, a few rather silly, many of them controversial.

By the end of that first semester in college we’d become better writers and speakers. We knew how to define and persuade and avoid logical fallacies. I left Rhetoric I finally understanding what rhetoric is—and how powerful it can be.

I have known Dr. Sarah Walden for four years now. I watched her belly grow big when she was pregnant with her son, Liam. On days when I babysat, I held that precious boy in my arms and wondered when he’d be old enough to understand and appreciate what a strong woman his mother is. When she got a permanent teaching position in the BIC department, I rejoiced.

She is my thesis director now, and it still shocks me, how her soft and gentle voice can expect so much of me. I am scared all the time of disappointing her, which is a good thing, or else my thesis would never get finished.

Great teachers aren’t hard to come by at Baylor. I could write an ode to any one of them. But I write about Dr. Walden today because she’s the one responsible for getting the wheels aturnin’ (or however that old adage goes). Looking back, she did tell me I had potential to be a good writer, but that’s not really what made me switch from Business to Professional Writing. It’s more that she showed me, in that 8 a.m. freshman rhetoric class, how through words I have the ability to create, to destroy, and to change the way things are—for better and for worse.

Dr. Walden encouraged those shy freshmen to wield the power of rhetoric — because, she told us, our ideas matter, because words are free and we are free to use them.

And look at me now! Going on and on and on about my ideas 24/7. It’s like a disease, really. I can’t help it.

Take a moment today — especially you, seniors — to think about the professors at Baylor who have guided you one step closer to where you were always meant to be. Maybe they spent a lot of time with you during office hours; maybe they got you to think outside of your comfort zone; or maybe, they just gave one heck of a good lecture that you’ll never forget. If your professors have made an impact on your life — tell them. The work they’re doing is important, and they deserve to know that.

(Author: Ada Zhang)

In our modern world, those of the Western culture are constantly bombarded by advertisements, news stories, and cute cat videos, alongside countless examples of media. Even though it might appear that we are drowning in an indiscriminately-displayed mass of media, news and television networks alike are increasingly selective in that which they choose to advertise and broadcast. Many news stories aren’t covered just as many commercials don’t make the cut. Such is apparent in that major news networks that covered the horrible attack at the satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, on January 7^th, resulting in the deaths of twelve people, but did not cover the weeklong assault from January 2^nd to the 7^th, led by an extremist group called the Boko Haram, who committed a massacre of Nigerian men, women, and children in the small town of Baga, resulting in the deaths of 150 unarmed Nigerians.

Why did major Western news networks cover the Charlie Hebdo attack but not the Massacre at Baga? As BIC Freshmen have learned in our second semester of Rhetoric, media is often representative of the culture that created it. What does this decision say about our culture? To find out, let’s take a look back at the culture that Aeneas founded so long ago: Rome.

In our second semester of World Cultures, BIC Freshmen have been reading some of the works of Augustine, but I would like to go a little further back, when Rome was still a republic. As of 90 B.C., the Roman Republic was involved in what historians call the “Social War” in which Rome conquered its defiant Italian allies who had rebelled against its control earlier that year. The fighting was brutal. Due to this conflict, only two legions were garrisoned in the Roman province of Asia Minor (stretching from Modern Greece to Modern Turkey). Despite the war raging across the Italian peninsula, these two Roman legions, alongside the forces of Nicomedes IV—the then ruler of Bithynia (now Northern coast of Turkey) and Roman puppet leader—marched against Mithridates VI of Pontus, who had previously tried to seize the Bithynian throne for himself. Mithridates handily defeated this invasion, however, and scattered the Roman-Bithynian forces, leaving Asia Minor completely undefended. As such, Mithridates marched freely through Asia Minor, conquering as he went.

Despite the lack of Roman military in the area, many of the cities in Asia Minor still considered themselves Roman, as a large portion of the population were Roman citizens. In order to further destroy the Roman presence in Asia Minor, in 88 B.C. Mithridates orchestrated a mass murder of Roman citizens across seven different Roman-held settlements throughout Asia Minor. Over the course of a single day, Mithridates’ troops purged each city at a different hour of the day, targeting any Latin-speaking civilians, no matter age or gender, while sparing all others. Ancient historians estimated that around 80,000 Roman citizens were murdered over the course of that day

When news of what became known as the Asiatic Vespers reached the Italian peninsula, the massacre was broadcast throughout Italy. Then wrapping up the Social War, this news solidified Rome’s relationship with its Latin allies, providing the men on the Italian front with a new zeal, eager as they were to destroy their dissenting Italian brethren and then head to Asia Minor to battle Pontus and Mithridates, who had butchered their kin. Of course, the Roman government did not broadcast the fact that they had tried to invade Pontus. The Roman Republic, just as modern nations do today, broadcasted media selectively, often in order to highlight the good qualities of their cultures.

Why does this matter? Modern news outlets extensively covered the attack led by two ISIS-associated gunmen against Charlie Hebdo in Paris, resulting in the deaths of twelve unarmed people, but neglected to mention the massacre at the Nigerian town of Baga, led by the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram, resulting in the deaths of at least 150 unarmed people. Not to detract from the horrors and atrocities committed by the two gunmen in Paris—surely the event needed to be covered—but why is it that similar atrocities in Nigeria were not covered as well?

Some might say that the Charlie Hebdo attack was so extensively covered due to the fact that it was aimed directly at values that are core to Western culture, such as the freedoms of speech and expression. I would argue, however, that Boko Haram’s actions are equally aimed at Western values. Boko Haram literally translates to “Western” or “Non-Islamic teachings – are sinful.” As such, Boko Haram has openly attacked and butchered citizens of Nigeria who are close allies with the United States. Just like the Charlie Hedbo attack, the massacre led by Boko Haram was an attack against Western culture. As of January 25, Boko Haram has besieged the major city of Maiduguri. They are a serious threat. So why have the attacks not been broadcast by major Western news outlets? What does this say about our culture?

Why do you think the massacre at Baga has not been covered by major Western news networks? Does Boko Haram constitute a real threat? Leave a comment below.

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? All are welcome! Email me at Lee_Shaw@baylor.edu

Further reading on the Asiatic Vespers:

http://historynewsnetwork.org/article/121264

http://www.academia.edu/1274975/The_Impact_of_the_Roman_Intervention_in_Greece_and_Asia_Minor_Upon_Civilians

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/miscellanea/trivia/aquillius.html

Further reading on Boko Haram Massacre at Baga:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/25/world/rifts-between-us-and-nigeria-impeding-fight-against-boko-haram.html

http://www.wsj.com/articles/satellite-images-show-boko-haram-massacre-in-nigeria-1421326660

Further reading on Charlie Hebdo attack:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30708237

What could one of the most patriotic nations on this Earth, the United States of America, and one of the largest empires in history, Rome, have in common? Both nations have experienced similar problems when it comes to immigration. Unfortunately, Rome’s response to immigration resulted in the collapse of the Western Roman Empire and serves as a stark reminder of the importance of developed immigration policy.

Within the next few weeks, President Obama is expected to release an executive order that would drastically change the current immigration enforcement system in the United States. This order could provide nearly five million illegal immigrants with legal documentation. Such an order would not provide these immigrants with citizenship by any means, but would simply present a temporary pardon from deportation. For instance, the order would provide many illegal immigrants (who are already in the United States) with work visas, social security numbers, and in some cases even driver’s licenses. By providing many immigrants with such resources, this move alleviates many of the fears of immigrant families, who suspect that relatives could be deported at a moment’s notice, leaving children alone to fend for themselves or entire families without providers.

While Obama’s order would alleviate the daily stress that many immigrants experience, the move is merely a temporary fix for a long-term problem. Congress could change laws in order to prevent the president from taking such an action; and even if Obama were able to invoke an executive order, the next elected president could simply revoke the order and leave Mexican-American immigrants exposed and even more prone to deportation. As his attempts to rework American immigration policy in the House of Representatives failed this year, Obama is running out of options in terms of how he might reform immigration policy.

Obama and the White House, however, might also expand DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which grants reprieves for illegal immigrants who came to the United States as children. If the program were to be expanded, an estimated 700,000 people would be granted amnesty from deportation. Both of these supposed plans have been met with a great deal of criticism from Republicans, stating that Obama’s plans will be too lenient towards illegal immigrants. Journalist Julia Preston, however, offers a different viewpoint in the New York Times: “Mr. Obama’s actions will not make it easier for migrants to cross the southwestern border . . . Foreigners caught at the border would still be on the priority list for deportation . . . and a primary goal of Mr. Obama’s actions will be to shift resources and agents to border security that had been focused on removing immigrants from the interior.” Immigrant advocacy groups are in support of Obama’s plans, as it will make life much easier for immigrants throughout the nation.

While there are many perspectives on how the issue of illegal immigration should be addressed, it must be acknowledged the issue is persistent and needs careful consideration. The issue of immigration was just as—if not more—significant for the Roman Empire. As BIC freshman have been reading The Aeneid and hearing all about the manifest destiny of Rome, I thought I would do well to offer a contrasting perspective: the actual fall of Rome.

In the third century CE, the Roman Empire was a shadow of its former glory. Its troops were spread thin, its leaders were corrupt, and enemies gathered on every border. One such enemy was Attila the Hun, whose forces were determined to pillage and plunder every civilized society they could find. As the Huns pushed through Europe, a collection of Western Gothic tribes (attributed with the name “Visigoths” by the Roman writer Cassiodorus) appealed to the Roman emperor, Valens, for sanctuary within Roman territory. Valens admitted the various tribes access into Rome but, as they were abused and neglected by certain provincial Roman rulers, the Visigoths rebelled against Rome in 376 CE, resulting in what would be known as the Gothic Wars. In 378 CE, Emperor Valens himself was killed and his force decimated at the battle of Adrianople (which modern historians mark as the beginning of the decline of the Roman Empire). The Visigoths pillaged and conquered throughout Italy and Greece before turning back to Rome, sacking the once-great city in 410 CE.

Why does this matter? The happiness of a large portion of a nation’s population is important in order for a nation to succeed. The Roman Emperor Valens did what he thought was best, offering the Visigoths safety, but subsequently neglected them, which encouraged rebellion. However our nation responds to issues like immigration, I think that we can all agree that such responses should help as many people as possible without stepping on too many toes. No matter flag or creed, human beings are human beings. We are all united by the banner of humanity.

What do you think of President Obama’s executive plan? How should the U.S. address the issue of immigration? Leave a comment below.

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? All are welcome! Email me at Lee_Shaw@baylor.edu

Further reading on the Gothic Wars:

http://www.ancient.eu/visigoth/ http://history-world.org/germanic_tribes.htm

Further reading on U.S. Immigration:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/16/us/obamas-immigration-plan-could-grant-papers-to-millions-at-least-for-now.html?ref=us&_r=0

http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/14/politics/charles-krauthammer-obama-immigration-action-impeachable/

http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/immigration