Professors evaluate Trump’s impact on U.S.

In response to Donald Trump’s victory, eight Hopkins professors speculated about the election’s impact on American society.

The discussion in Mason Hall on Wednesday began by examining how Trump’s surprise win could affect American domestic policy.

Hilary Bok, associate professor of philosophy, argued that Trump’s election is evidence that some Americans are not taking their democratic responsibilities seriously.

“We have to also be willing to stick up for our Constitution when it’s under threat,” she said. “If we have a political candidate that talks about imprisoning the people that he’s running against, beating up political protesters or criminalizing news media coverage that he does not find to his tastes, that to me is not a partisan thing.”

Associate Professor Courtland Robinson of the Bloomberg School of Public Health agreed that the 2016 presidential election raised larger questions about what constitutes the American identity and the democratic process.

“[The election] is absolutely critically about identity,” Robinson said. “I think the issue before us is who belongs, who is an American and who says who is and who isn’t.”

Andrew Cherlin, professor of sociology, explained how economic discontent and the erosion of the American Dream contributed to Trump’s electoral success.

“I think that this response of these white working class people — although it had sexist, racist overtones — is primarily an economic response,” he said. “For these white working class adults, they’re comparing themselves to a generation that did better.”

Cherlin stressed the need to address the economic fears of the white working class.

“The question for us is how to move forward, how to find enough jobs for people, how to train them well enough. How do we move them to aplace where they feel like they’re a part of the American economy again?” he asked. “We don’t have simple answers, but we have some ideas and programs with education and training which will certainly help.”

The second segment of the panel addressed Trump’s victory in an international context. Nicolas Jabko, associate professor of political science, reminded the audience that the rise of right-wing populism is not exclusive to the U.S.

“From an international perspective, I want to highlight that Trump is not an outlier,” he said. “In many ways, what is happening in the U.S. has happened or is happening these days in other parts of the world.”

Political Science Professor Sarah Parkinson worried about the possible foreign policy implications of Trump’s presidency.

“A U.S. President who says torture is just fine and incredibly useful is an incredibly scary thing,” she said. “In terms of the Islamic State, this is an obvious recruitment boon. It’s just sound bite after sound bite after sound bite. The Twitter feed alone. All you have to do is package that in a really slick YouTube video.”

Sociology Professor Stefanie DeLuca spoke about the importance of pursuing the answers to pressing academic questions, even though some people dismiss academia as removed from reality.

“I don’t think this is true of folks that we find at Hopkins, this isolation of the Ivory Tower, this out-of-touchness, but I think it’s worth considering how we do our work, where we do our work, where it influences and what our role is as an academic institution,” DeLuca said. “We are scholars and scientists and we should continue to perfect our ‘nerdcraft.’”

Following the election, students across campus grew interested and concerned about the ramifications of a Trump presidency. Undergraduates, graduate students and other Hopkins affiliates filled the Mason Hall auditorium for the panel. Hopkins freshman Alex Walinskas, heard about the event from DeLuca, who is one of her professors.

“I think this election is very fascinating just because of how historical and novel its events are,” she said. “A lot of what’s happening right now has not happened before, and so I want to be as informed as possible.”

DeLuca later stated that when considering the results of the election, students should look beyond their academic studies.

“I simply urge you to do something bigger than you, than your A-, your B+, your minor, your major, your double major, your triple major,” DeLuca said. “Do something bigger than you. Hopefully those things all relate to that.”

Parkinson said students should focus more on action, rather than simply criticizing the presidency.

“Resist the urge to make everything about the President. This is how authoritarians thrive. This is how cults of personality are built,” Parkinson said. “Part of this is also about how we frame the stories we tell about ourselves, and if we make all of those stories about Trump, that means that we are not actually doing the incredibly introspective work and the activist work that needs to be done.”