Navigating the Unknown: Experiences of International Graduate Students from Muslim-majority Countries in the Current Political Climate

Authors

Juanita Ariza, Indiana University - BloomingtonFollow
Madison Motoyasu, Indiana University - BloomingtonFollow
Holly Lustig, Indiana University - BloomingtonFollow
Ree M. Palmer, Indiana University - BloomingtonFollow
Benjamin Stalvey, Indiana University - BloomingtonFollow
Donna To, Indiana University - BloomingtonFollow

Abstract

The United States was built upon oppression, colonization, slavery, and exclusionary policies. Today, our current policies and laws create and maintain acts of oppression through forms of discrimination, exploitation, and marginalization. Most recently, the Executive Order 13769 (2017) was created to intentionally restrict the travel of non-citizens, visitors, and residents from seven Muslim-majority countries. This study shares the experiences of 9 international graduate students from Muslim-majority countries in the current sociopolitical environments at a midwestern Predominantly White Institution (PWI) in the U.S. The study asks the question, “How do international graduate students conceptualize their sense of belonging on their campus?” The study found that longstanding issues of racism and anti-immigrant sentiments have negatively impacted the sense of belonging of students as a continuation of the current political climate.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Ariza, J., Motoyasu, M., Lustig, H., Palmer, R., Stalvey, B., & To, D. (2018). Navigating the unknown: Experiences of international graduate students from Muslim-majority countries in the current political climate. Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs, 3(3), 62-73.