Protecting Muslim Students’ Speech and Expression and Resisting Islamophobia

Ahmadi, Shafiqa; Sanchez, Mabel; Cole, Darnell

doi:10.4324/9780429449178-6

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…Within colleges and universities, the climate for Muslim students reflects the broader social context (Ahmadi et al, 2019;Cole & Ahmadi, 2003, complicated by discrimination, prejudice, and minoritization. Although religious minorities, in general, are likely to encounter an unwelcoming climate compared to religious-majority students , Muslim students come to campus with characteristics that distinguish them from their peers who hold majority or other minority worldviews.…”

Section: Institutional Climate For Muslim Studentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inspiring Muslim Appreciation in the First-Year of College: What Makes a Difference?

et al. 2022

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The purpose of this study was to examine first-year change in appreciative attitudes toward Muslims by non-Muslim students. To this end, we longitudinally assessed 6229 undergraduate students at the beginning and end of their first year in college. We performed a hierarchical linear modeling analysis and found evidence that Muslim appreciation can change as a result of exposure to and participation in the first year in college, specifically through provocative encounters that are adequately supported by administrative practices designed for helping students interact productively. Implications are discussed.

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Section: Institutional Climate For Muslim Studentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inspiring Muslim Appreciation in the First-Year of College: What Makes a Difference?

et al. 2022

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“…The climate for Muslim students on college campuses reflects the broader societal context (Ahmadi et al., 2019; Cole & Ahmadi, 2003). The social and political climates I summarized above have resulted in vocal and rampant Islamophobic rhetoric, reflected on college campuses, as demonstrated in studies about campus climate and the experiences of Muslim students (Nasir & Al‐Amin, 2006; Williams & Vashi, 2007).…”

Section: Islamophobia On Campusmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The consequences of Islamophobia can be seen in the academic sphere as well. Multiple researchers have noted how Muslim students often feel unable or unwilling to discuss sensitive topics in classes due to the perception of scrutiny by their peers (Ahmadi et al., 2019; Elbelazi & Alharbi, 2020). This issue is exacerbated by faculty seldom trained to facilitate conversations about diversity or manage classroom tensions when they arise (Denson et al., 2020; Foste et al., 2021).…”

Section: Islamophobia On Campusmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These conditions inevitably crept onto college campuses. Higher education institutions have been shown repeatedly to be hostile environments for Muslim students (e.g., Ahmadi et al., 2019; Ali, 2014; Barakat, 2018; Cole & Ahmadi, 2010; Cole et al., 2020; Garrod & Kilkenny, 2014). The intersection of other marginalized identities compounds these negative experiences, such as the experience of Muslim international students (Cole et al., 2020) and Muslim women (Yousafzia, 2020).…”

Section: Islamophobia In Higher Education Environmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In 2019, 2.6% of entering college students identified as Muslims, an increase from 1.9% in 2018 and surpassing the percentage of students who are Buddhist, Hindu, and Jewish (Stolzenberg et al., 2019). Considerable attention has been devoted to Muslims' experiences on college campuses which have been shown to be hostile environments for this population (e.g., Ahmadi et al., 2019; Barakat, 2018; Cole & Ahmadi, 2010; Garrod & Kilkenny, 2014). Islamophobia, as experienced on campus, can be seen in two broad, interrelated categories.…”

Section: Islamophobia On Campusmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Islamophobia in higher education environments

Shaheen

2024

New Drctns Hghr Edu

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Islamophobia is a reality facing Muslim college students daily on and off campus. In this chapter, I highlight Islamophobia in higher education environments and explore its structural and interactional manifestations. I provide practical recommendations to address institutional and interpersonal Islamophobia and specify how campus educators can work to respond to and prevent Islamophobic incidents. I also make policy recommendations to respond to the hostility toward Muslims in the national discourse. Finally, I outline future frontiers for higher education research, such as the need to account for the complexity of the Muslim identity and its intersections and the need to distinguish Islamophobia from Muslim appreciation through empirical measurement. Future directions in higher education should take on the responsibility of responding to Islamophobia and eradicating its hold on Muslim lives.Practical Takeaways Colleges and universities should critically examine their infrastructures and policies concerning accommodating the religious needs of Muslim students. Each campus should have an academic accommodations policy that specifies how students may go about requesting an accommodation for religious reasons. This policy should be explicitly stated in syllabi, websites, and orientation materials. Institutional leadership should explicitly commit to countering religious‐based hate, including Islamophobia, through policies that condemn such forms of hate and outline specific means of responding to incidents when they occur. A proactive effort to counter hate on campus requires knowledge of the structures in place to utilize these resources when needed and to identify areas for improvement. Educators should create programs and opportunities that promote interactions across religious, spiritual, and secular (RSS) identities and must offer the time, resources, and effort to support formalized campus activities that foreground interfaith engagement. Educators should proactively create spaces for these encounters and incorporate these opportunities into campus architecture and the required programming (e.g., orientation). In the face of a national movement to eliminate, ban, or otherwise weaken diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) resources on college campuses, religious accommodations must be codified in both state and federal laws and guidelines to create consistency across states and a standard of how universities could actively work to create a welcoming environment for all.

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