Introduction: Expanding our analytic identity: The inclusion of a larger social perspective

It was early in the fall semester, around September 11, 2002. The event took place in a graduate-level trauma course. The professor, a psychoanalyst, referred to the terrorists who flew their planes into the Twin Towers. An Arab student raised her hand and corrected the professor, informing her that the pilots were not terrorists. When the professor asked what they were, Abia, the student, responded: “freedom fighters.” A painful noise in response to this statement came from an Israeli student seated behind the Arab student. This is how the semester began.