LACKAWANNA COUNTY -- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to Congress Tuesday may be written in history books someday. Some students here in Lackawanna County related the address to what is in their history book now.
Marywood University closed early Tuesday because of the weather. With the relaxed attitude on campus, one history professor decided to take things a little off course. Students related Netanyahu's speech to the beginning of World War II.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech was heard on Capitol Hill, and only a few hours later, it was analyzed inside a small classroom at Marywood University in Lackawanna county.
"It was a scramble to get ready but that`s part of the joy of teaching as it relates to what`s happening that day," said history and women's studies professor Dr. Samantha Christiansien.
Dr. Christiansien brought parts of the speech to her 20th century history class. Netanyahu's message may be modern, but it has a lot of similarities to what these students are studying right now, the beginning of World War II.
"I think it`s important to dig a little deeper than the headlines. This speech has generated a lot of headlines but not a lot of deep historical analysis. That`s what we`re going to do here today," Christiansien added.
With a power point and some serious discussion, the class broke down Netanyahu's controversial address about a nuclear arms deal with Iran and compared it with the state of the world in the 1930's.
"It really put it into context, it`s a really big issue, and I feel like me, not everyone knew how pressing it was," said freshman student Brittney Cohan.
The class talked about quotes, made only hours earlier, comparing Israel's relationship with Iran to its relationship with Hitler during World War II.
"While it was really bold that he did make the comparison to the Nazis, I think that`s a very important thing to kind of get people more interested in it," added freshman Caytie Castells.
"Especially with the speech referring back to such a serious time in history, it kind of makes me, as an American, be more aware of what`s going on in our country and in other countries around us," said junior Miranda Micciche.
Some of the students in the history class watched the speech when it aired live on t-v this morning...But they admittedly, didn't seek it out. They said they might think differently about that now after today's class.