Teaching and learning about 9/11
Paige Detwiler ’24 and professor Robert Rook share what it’s like to explore the history and aftermath of 9/11 for Gen Z students.
By GRACE HOGGARTH '22 on September 11, 2024

On Sept. 11, 2001, most Gen Z students were not yet born or conscious of the world around them when the fateful attacks took place. Senior Paige Detwiler, born at 6:35 a.m. that day — a mere two hours before Flight 11 hit the North Tower — is one of those people.
Despite not being old enough to understand the significance of their birthday that very day, every subsequent birthday was a humbling learning experience for Detwiler and an opportunity to hear the personal stories of the people around them.
Detwiler recalls the phrase “this was before your time” as language frequently used by teachers when discussing the attacks, but for them, these words didn’t feel applicable.
“My learning was very intertwined with people's personal experiences about that day. That divide between who was alive and who wasn’t gave me an interesting perspective on historical events,” Detwiler says.
Learning about 9/11 growing up was a nonlinear experience for Detwiler. In elementary school, they were aware of the planes hitting a national landmark, but it wasn’t until middle school and high school that they delved into the political contexts and aftermath.
Detwiler’s middle school girl scout troop visit to the 9/11 museum and memorial in New York City was an impactful trip.
“Seeing tangible pieces from that day was very earth shattering,” Detwiler says. “To see the bent steel frames of buildings, the clothes people were wearing—it wasn’t until middle school that it felt like a very real concept.”

Detwiler recalls commemorating Sept. 11 and their own birthday in elementary school by bringing in a list of the names of people who passed away that day. It didn’t feel natural to celebrate their birthday on the anniversary.
In the aftermath of 9/11, a national recession in 2008 and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, like other Gen Z students Detwiler feels humbled. There is always something to learn and empathize with.
For TU professor Robert Rook, the context of the 9/11 attacks comes up organically in his discussions with students. Rook teaches military history and American foreign relations in the College of Liberal Arts' department of history and implements the history of 9/11 to open students’ minds.
For him, providing context to historical events helps students understand the decisions and precedents that may have informed why and how a global event took place. His students, most of whom are Gen Z, are frequently surprised when they begin to break down the context of historical events like 9/11.
At the start of his courses, Rook has students read a statement that came out of a 9/11 commission report.
The report highlights that the failure to anticipate and prepare for the kinds of attacks the U.S. experienced was a “failure of imagination,” so Rook asks his students, “Who’s imagination?”
“I remind them it's important to understand the moments in which decisions are made and in which consequences arrive,” Rook says. “It is important that we be aware of the policy frameworks that often get formed where, at best, you have 60% of the information you need.”
His aim is for students to stall a future failure of imagination by developing a more robust understanding of dynamism – a theory or system that aims to understand and explain how something in the world, like a historical event, takes shape.
“It is important to seize the opportunity that an anniversary presents to embark upon that exploration of context and the pursuit of a deeper awareness and understanding of, ‘Why did this happen and how did this happen,” Rook says.
He is hopeful students have an expanded capacity to appreciate the complexity of historical events and the role dynamism plays within them after taking his course.
To many, the history of 9/11 has become a highway sign, commemorating a veteran who lost their life or a scholarship to honor a victim. While these reminders of history honor lost lives, understanding the context of historical events like 9/11, continuing to talk about them and sharing personal stories is more valuable now than ever.