" For our students , it is quite clear that in everything -- from what it feels like in an airport , or dealing with Muslim neighbors in school or college , or what they think about when they think about going abroad for junior year -- there is that sense that their Americanness is not safe from the rest of the world , or is deeply influenced by the United States ' role and its relationships to the rest of the world , " said Melani McAlister , an associate professor of American studies and international affairs at George Washington University .