Not necessarily. Fact is, probably 90+% of Americans have not studied the inter-war period for even a week, much less a semester. The fact that someone spent a semester studying something is a starting point. The fact that someone else spent over 30 years studying the topic says something as well.

If you want to discuss brain surgery, you'll get more informed discussion from a brain surgeon than a historian. If you want to discuss history, you'll get more informed discussion from a historian than from a lawyer. The fact that someone has spent many years studying a topic in detail suggests that that person knows something about it.

The fact that I've travelled a bit and studied a lot helps give me perspective. The fact that you grew up overseas and then have lived here for 7 years gives you perspective, too. Our opinions are shaped by our perspectives, our backgrounds, and our experiences.

If you only want to discuss things with people who agree with you, then you'd probably enjoy a forum like the one discussed here. Frankly, I find such fora both boring and cowardly. It takes pressure to make a diamond. That also holds true for ideas - the pressure of spirited discussion helps expose an idea's weaknesses and build on its strengths. Ideas are very powerful things. Not only have they shaped our world, but bad ideas resulted in the deaths of over 100 million people in the 20th century alone. Me, I enjoy the "battle of ideas". It's far more stimulating that endless "me, too" discussion.