Muslims, Head Coverings, and Fantasy Football: Moving Beyond the Stereotype

Sample

In an introduction to interpersonal communication course at a Midwestern university students are assigned a listening project that requires them to learn about themselves and others by selecting a representative of a group whose perspective they would not ordinarily listen to.1 Two days after the project is assigned the news is dominated by the Boston Marathon bombing where one bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, before his capture leaves a hastily scribbled note stating that an attack against one Muslim is an attack on all. Reports link Tsarnaev to a mosque with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and suggest the attack was payback for American military action in Muslim countries. Deeply disturbed by this incident, Michael, a Christian student in the class, decides to visit the Muslim Student Center on campus and listen to the perspectives of a Muslim student.