My own studies of Arabic and Islamic culture and Iranian culture at Indiana University and also anecdotally from our wars in that part of the world doesn't "encourage [me] to empathize with viewpoints different from [my] own."    

Shari'a Law and a close reading of the Qur'an and its various interpretations by Mullahs in particular, offend my cultural values regarding women, homosexuals, death sentences for minor offenses, female genital mutilation and several other things.  

I certainly have no empathy whatsoever for those cultural concepts.   Spending exorbitant tuition at Duck U to learn about them?  I think not.