Three Perspectives on Paris

Erik Bleich, professor of political science, studies race and ethnicity in Western Europe and was living in Lyon, France during the Charlie Hebdo attacks. He interviewed numerous French Muslims following that attack. In a piece for the Huffington Post, Bleich says that anti-Muslim sentiment in France is unfair and that France has not lived up to its promise of an open and accepting society. Read “Don’t Blame the Muslims: France’s Failed Promise of Integration,” published November 20, 2015.

Jay Parini, professor of English and Creative Writing, is a regular opinion columnist for CNN.com. In his most recent essay, Parini says the U.S. needs to learn from its past foriegn policy mistakes if it hopes to have any effectiveness in thwarting ISIS. Read “To Thwart ISIS, First Consider History,” published November 17, 2015.

In a special column for Seventeen, Amanda Randone, a Middlebury master’s student studying at the School in France, describes her shock and sadness returning to the streets of her adopted home after the terrorist attacks. Read “An American Student Studying in Paris Shares Her Experience of Friday Night’s Terrorist Attacks,” published November 15, 2015.