The effects of the events of Sept. 11, 2001, are still being felt throughout American society 20 years after the attacks, said two Slippery Rock University professors.

For instance, the Homeland and Corporate Securities Studies Department at SRU was created in response to 9/11.

Jordan Titera, assistant professor of the department, said, “That is correct. We wouldn't be here as an academic department if not for the creation of the Department of Homeland Security in 2002.”

“On the homeland security side, we focus on everything from risk management, emergency management critical infrastructure,” she said. “On the corporate security side, we work with private businesses and how the secure their facilities, fraud and fraud schemes and how we create organizational security.”

Lia Paradis, professor of history in SRU's History Department, said there have been many concrete effects such as military and security infrastructure spending.

“The social and cultural impact of 9/11 are hard to notice, the ways we have changed socially and culturally as a result of 9/11,” Paradis said.

“The country became more paranoid and more xenophobic,” she added. “There have not been many attacks on our own soil. Feeling vulnerable in our own country resulted in expression of anxiety, paranoia and xenophobia.”

Titera said since 9/11 the government has taken many steps to make us safer that has altered us as a country.

“Just going to the airport, look at the security things we do. They alter how we live our lives,” Titera said.

Still, threats to the country are not standing still either, she said.

“There are so many different advances in extremism and terrorism,” she said. “There are emerging threats every day that need to be accounted for by our government and researchers.”

“There are students in our program who have no idea what life was like before 9/11,” she said. “'War on Terror,' 'See something, say something' and the Department of Homeland Security, they've grown up with them.

“It's a really interesting perspective that they bring to this field,” she said.

Paradis noted the feeling of national unease ebbs and flows.

That's reflected in the movies and television shows produced after 9/11.

Paradis noted a movie such as “300” released in 2007 was on the surface about the battle between the Spartans and the Persian Empire.

“What it was really about was these foreigners, this civilization attacking us,” Paradi said.

In the TV show “24,” said Paradis, “Jack Bauer saves the world through the use of torture.”

She noted the events after 9/11 — the invasion of Afghanistan and the subsequent invasion of Iraq — made criticism of these actions seen as being unAmerican.

“In the years after that, 9/11 really undermined the ability of traditional institutions in the country to say 'Wait a minute, should we be doing this?'”

9/11 will influence how the nation handles future events as well, said Titera.

“As events happen in the future like the Boston Marathon bombing, we will continue to react to those and figure out how to close the gaps in our nation's security,” Titera said.

And it's not just foreign jihadists that pose a threat to the nation.

She said the head of the FBI gave a really great press conference on the threat of domestic terrorism. She said the amount of extremist groups here in United States is growing and that's a really important thing to remember.

“Domestic terrorism is a big threat,” said Titera, while at the same time old terrorist foes such as the Islamic State group and al-Qaida are changing and refining their tactics.

“Technology that makes our lives easier is doing the same for the terrorist groups,” Titera said.

Recent events such as the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan and worries about a revitalized al-Qaida and Islamic State group make this a perilous time for the nation, Paradis said.

“Unfortunately, we can look to the past and see patterns to know what is coming in the future,” she said. “Right now, much as we did after 9/11, we are feeling vulnerable. It feels as if our power is lessened.”

That's when people make bad decisions when they are feeling anxious and weak and feel the need to prove themselves, the experts said.

“We don't usually take into account how much emotion and psychology goes into the decision-making process is going on,” Paradis said.

“After leaving Vietnam, we were embroiled in conflicts in many different places. There's not a good track record of us learning from past mistakes,” Paradis said.

But the world won't stop moving to allow U.S. citizens to regain our national equilibrium, both Paradis and Titera said.

“That's a perspective that is very different across the country, but the fact is we are going to have to work with people globally,” Titera said.

“We live in a very global society. We need to work together for our common interests. I think that is a really important mentality to have as a country,” Titera said.

“We're used to being the unquestioned big power on the block. Maybe we need to be thinking in a different way,” Paradis said. She said it is either retreating or dealing with reduced power by cooperating within an international community.

Remembering the 20th anniversary of 9/11 might be a good thing for the country, Titera said.

“Every time an event happens like the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, we see a sort of community unity effect. It happened post-9/11: patriotism, unification and banding together after a horrible event,” she said.

“I don't necessarily think that's been lost. We don't forget those events that happened in the past. Different events we are always able to incorporate into our lives. Being able to commemorate is important.”