Academics nationwide this weekend swiftly condemned an executive order signed by President Trump that, among other things, bars citizens of seven majority-Muslim countries from entering the United States for at least 90 days.
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Mr. Trump’s order reflects that he doesn’t understand how American higher education works, said Hamid Dabashi, a professor of Iranian studies and comparative literature at Columbia University, and a petition signer. In particular, Mr. Dabashi said, the president appears ignorant of the fact that the global exchange of information, scholars, and students is essential to how colleges operate.
“They’re just shooting from the hip,” he said of Mr. Trump and his advisers.
“If this transforms into more long-term isolationist policies on the part of the Trump administration,” Mr. Dabashi added, “my fear is that it’ll have long-term structural effects on the health of our scholarship.”
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Naghmeh Sohrabi, a professor of Middle East history at Brandeis University, said it would cost time and money to enforce, while not dealing with America’s real national security concerns.
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