College professor assigned paper to students asking them to explain “Why Osama bin Laden should be considered for a Nobel Peace Prize.”

(OPINION) A Ferris State University professor assigned a paper to students asking them to explain “Why Osama bin Laden should be considered for a Nobel Peace Prize.”

Ferris State University History Professor Barry Mehler has assigned the 2,000-word term paper to students multiple times since 2014 in a class titled “The Middle East in the Modern Era,” according to a public records request obtained by Fox News Digital.

“Term Paper: Why Osama bin Laden should be considered for a Nobel Peace,” a copy of the spring 2014 semester syllabus states. “This is a 300 level history term paper which must conform to certain standards. The paper must have a clear argument and use both primary and secondary sources, Chicago Style footnotes, and a bibliography with primary sources listed separately from secondary sources.

Further instructions and sample student papers from past years will be available on our class page.” Mehler assigned the term paper asking students to explain Why Osama bin Laden should be considered for a Nobel Peace” multiple times since 2014, the documents show.

The professor told Fox News Digital that he assigned the paper to give students a view of history “from an unusual angle.” “I often give assignments like this. The idea is to view history from an unusual angle. By the way, I had a student who was in an Army reserves intelligence unit and he had just completed a paper in defense of Saddam Hussein.

The intelligence service wants their officers to be able to understand why Osama bin Laden might be seen as a great hero instead of a great villian. You want the student to be able to step out of their own comfort zone and explore the way other people view the world,” Mehler said. “As a Jew and a lifelong human rights advocate, I can assure you I wasn’t recruiting for Al Qaeda.” READ MORE