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Date: 12/04/2008 In Defence of Learning: The Past and Present Location: United Kingdom Description: The Council for Assisting Refugee Academics (SAR’s partner organization in the UK) will hold a two day conference to mark the organization’s 75th anniversary, from December 4-5, 2008. The conference entitled “In Defence of Learning: The Past and the Present” will be held at the British Academy, 10 Carlton House Terrace, London, SW1Y 5AG.
Date: 12/02/2008 Panel Discussion on Academic Freedom at the University of Groningen Location: Description: The University of Groningen in The Netherlands is holding a panel discussion on academic freedom on December 2 from 8:00-9:30 p.m. in the Academy Building, Groningen. The event features André Köbben and Henk Tromp, with introductions by Coen Groen, Berend Jonker and Antoon De Baets.
Date: 11/22/2008 Responses to Academic Freedom (@ MESA) Location: Description: Scholars at Risk will hold two events at the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) meeting in DC: a panel featuring SAR scholars from Iraq and Iran (November 22, from 1:30-3:30 p.m.) and a discussion session on measuring academic freedom around the globe (November 22, from 4:00-5:00 p.m.).
Date: 11/13/2008 NYU Ewen Center for Academic Freedom's Academic Freedom and the Law Location: Description: New York University's Frederic Ewen Academic Freedom Center Invite You To A Symposium on Academic Freedom and the Law November 13, 2008 2:00 - 5:00pm Helen & Martin Kimmel Center 914 60 Washington Square South New York, NY 10012 Chair, Norman Dorsen, Stokes Professor of Law and Counselor to the President, New York University "The Constitutional Law of Academic Freedom" Robert Post, Professor of Law, Yale University Comment by Greg Lukianoff, President, Foundation for Individual Rights in Education "Academic Freedom in the Wired Age" Robert M. O'Neil, Professor Emeritus, University of Virginia, and Director of the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression Comment by Rachel Levinson Waldman, Senior Counsel, American Association of University Professors Reception to follow For more information or to RSVP, please email zk3@nyu.edu
Date: 11/10/2008 The Current Economic Crisis: A Global Perspective Location: Ethiopia Description: A SAR scholar of economics has been invited to give a public lecture at the University of Richmond, where he will touch on global perceptions of the current economic situation.
Date: 11/06/2008 Peace in Georgia/The Rule of Law in Georgia Location: Georgia Description: Two scholars from the former Russian state of Georgia will speak at Mercyhurst College on Thursday, Nov. 6, at 11:30 a.m. as part of the Global Issues Forum. They are appearing under the auspices of the Scholars At Risk Network, which promotes academic freedom and defends the human rights of scholars who are attacked because of their words and ideas. The event will be held in the Mercy Heritage Room at Mercyhurst. Cost for the luncheon is $8.50 and reservations should be made by e-mailing sgccor@aol.com.
Date: 11/03/2008 International Human Rights & the Current Georgian/Russian Conflict Location: Description: Time: 12:30 pm Location: Art Exhibit Room, Macmillan Hall 2nd Floor Wells College welcomes human rights activist Anna Dolidze, who will give a talk on “International Human Rights and the Current Georgian/Russian Conflict.” Her presentation will be followed by a reception with an opportunity to meet the speaker. Anna V. Dolidze is a human rights lawyer and a visiting fellow at Cornell University Law School. Her interests lie in human rights law, research and documentation, comparative constitutional law, public international law, and rule of law reform in transitional systems. She is an advisor on human rights and rule of law issues to such organizations as Human Rights Watch, Russian Justice Initiative, Open Society Institute, the United Nations, and others. In 2007-2008, Ms. Dolidze was a visiting fellow at the Harriman Institute of Columbia University and Hauser Global Fellow at the New York University Law School. She is the former president of the Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA). Established in 1994, GYLA is an influential non-profit organization in Georgia (Russia) that focuses on areas of rule of promotion, legal reform, developing legal education, building civil society networks, and ensuring transparency and accountability within the government. Ms. Dolidze is currently teaching the course “United Nations Simulation” at Wells College, and classes at the Elmira Correctional Facility through the Bard Prison Initiative. This lecture is part of Wells’ new Inclusive and Intercultural Excellence Series, an annual year-long event. The series aims to engage the greater Wells community in considering issues of interculturalism and inclusiveness at the institutional, local, national, and global levels. For the 2008-09 year, its theme is Transcending Boundaries through Democratic Practice. This event is open to the Wells community and the public. There is no charge for this event. For more information, please contact Stephen Gilchrist, Director of Institutional Diversity 315-364-3463.
Date: 10/31/2008 Harriet Elliot Lecture Series at UNC-Greensboro Location: Rwanda Description: As part of the Harriet Elliot Lecture Series at UNC-Greensboro, Dr. Jean-Marie Kamatali, a Rwandan law professor who focuses on human rights and international law, will discuss “Back together again: the Challenge of Post-Conflict and Post dictatorship societies” on October 31st, 2008, from 10:00-10:50 a.m. in the Virginia Dare Room of the Alumni House. Dr. Kamatali's presentation is one of several that will take place from 9:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.
Date: 10/28/2008 Scholars at Risk: Academic Freedom Worldwide Location: Description: Date(s): 10.28.08 \| Tue Time: 12:30-1:30 Location: Rm. 310 Sponsor: Leitner Center for International Law and Justice Speaker: Rob Quinn Scholars at Risk (SAR) is an international network of universities, scholars and advocates working to promote academic freedom and to defend the human rights of intellectual communities worldwide. Scholars at Risk provides direct assistance in the form of temporary relocation and sanctuary to threatened scholars, advocates and other intellectuals. Scholars at Risk also conducts research, monitoring and training activities aimed at closing the gap between the higher education sector and the human rights community. This summer five Fordham Leitner interns assisted SAR in developing a new advocacy project: a World Survey on Academic Freedom. The students conducted extensive research and produced a report covering 25 countries which is currently being prepared as a website. Future interns will continue to add countries until global coverage is achieved. Once complete, the survey will be an invaluable tool for SAR and partners in conducting advocacy, developing strategy, attracting media to related issues and lobbying policy-makers for changes in legislation or practices. Speakers will discuss the problem of attacks on intellectual communities and how Leitner interns made a significant contribution to extending human rights strategies to this "new" issue area: academic freedom and university values. How do advocates understand conditions in widely different countries? How do they determine if conditions are improving or getting worse over time? How do they set priorities and goals for deploying limited advocacy resources (staff time and money)? Speakers: Rob Quinn is the founding director of the Scholars at Risk Network. He is a Fordham Law alumnus and a former Crowley Fellow. [SAR SCHOLAR AA] is a Pakistani journalist and a SAR visiting scholar at NYU 2008-09. He will describe from first hand experience the threats that intellectuals experience for their research, writing, teaching and speaking. Kate Belmont is a 3L and a Leitner Intern Summer 2008. She led the Leitner/SAR survey team and researched Ghana, Uzbekistan, Mexico, Cuba and Australia. Mariella Soussou is a 2L and a Leitner Intern Summer 2008. She researched Egypt, Afghanistan, Norway, Malaysia and Myanmar. Brown Bag Lunch discussion. Kosher Pizza will be served. Information on other upcoming brown bag lunches on November 11, 20 (a Thursday brown bag), and December 2, as well as the film screening of "Leaving Fear Behind" on November 13, can be found on the Leitner Center website: http://law.fordham.edu/ihtml/center3.ihtml?imac=1251.
Date: 09/24/2008 The Battle of Ideas Still Rages. Location: Ethiopia,Zimbabwe,China,Belarus,Iraq,Palestine/Occupied Territories Description: Hosted by the Center for the Study of Human Rights at Columbia University Location: Lerner Hall – Columbia University – 2920 Broadway at 115th Street Wednesday, September 24th 2008 Time: 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. The Program: Welcome: Dr. Lee Bollinger, President, Columbia University Dr. Allan Goodman, President & CEO, Institute of International Education (IIE) Introduction: Dr. Henry Jarecki, Chairman, IIE’s Scholar Rescue Fund (SRF) Remarks: HRH Princess Ghida Talal, Board Member, IIE’s Scholar Rescue Fund Moderator: Peter Ackerman, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Freedom House Featuring presentations by SRF scholars from Belarus, China, Ethiopia, Iraq, Palestine and Zimbabwe This event is free and open to the public For questions or additional information regarding this event, please contact the Scholar Rescue Fund at 212-984-5486 or srf@iie.org Event sponsors: The Institute of International Education (IIE), an independent nonprofit founded in 1919, IIE is among the world’s largest and most experienced international education and training organizations in the world. IIE has participated in the rescue of persecuted scholars since its founding. In 2002, IIE launched the Scholar Rescue Fund (SRF) as a formalized response to this ongoing international dilemma. The Scholar Rescue Fund (SRF) provides fellowships for established scholars whose lives and work are threatened in their home countries. These fellowships permit professors, researchers and other senior academics to find temporary refuge at universities and colleges anywhere in the world, enabling them to pursue their academic work and to continue to share their knowledge with students, colleagues, and the community at large. The Center for the Study of Human Rights (CSHR) established in 1978 at Columbia University, CSHR is committed to three core goals of providing excellent human rights education to Columbia students, fostering innovative interdisciplinary academic research, and offering its expertise in capacity building to human rights leaders, organizations, and universities around the world.
Date: 09/18/2008 20th anniversary of the Magna Charta Universitatum Location: Italy Description: The Observatory is organising an event to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Magna Charta Universitatum. The conference will take place in Bologna on 18-20 September 2008. In order to view the programme and register for this event, please visit the conference website: https://85.37.221.108/mcharta/ On 18 September 1988 some 400 rectors from universities worldwide signed the Magna Charta Universitatum. This document has since become the reference for the fundamental values and principles of the university, in particular institutional autonomy and academic freedom. By now, some 600 universities have signed the Magna Charta Universitatum. The Observatory of the Magna Charta was jointly created by the European University Association and the University of Bologna to protect, promote and monitor the fundamental principles and values.
Date: 07/01/2008 At Risk: A Documentary Location: Description: A film that examines scholars at risk and their experiences via interviews and events.
Date: 05/06/2008 Academic Freedom and the Decline of the Humanities Location: Description: Most discussions of academic freedom are US based and legalistic. It is necessary to discuss the role of the humanities in the sustained teaching of the practice of freedom. It is necessary to consider this question internationally. Right to education and academic freedom need also to be related. Kofi Anyidoho (University of Ghana), Paul Bové (University of Pittsbugh), Judith Butler (University of California, Berkeley), Jean Franco (Columbia University), Aniket Jaaware (University of Pune), Samia Mehrez (American University of Cairo), Esmail al Nashif (Bir Zeit University, Palestine), Romila Thapar (Jawaharlal Nehru University) , and Ngugi wa Thiong'o (University of California, Irvine) • What is academic freedom? • How is the issue changed if we think internationally? • What are the advantages and disadvantages of thinking of it in national legal terms? • What are "the humanities?" • How is the issue changed if we think internationally? • Can the participants take on board the idea that the humanities can teach the practice of freedom? • How does this relate to the teaching of the practice of unfreedom in the economic, political, and religious spheres? • How can the teaching of the humanities be used as a resource in the current state of play, nationally and internationally? • How is the entire debate enhanced if we look at it from the perspective of the long-term practice of human rights? • Is there a question or questions that should be added to this cluster? • Does academic freedom conflict with what are believed to be "cultural traditions?" • Do we have to make concessions to the degree of academic freedom that we want in varying political systems? Can it be an absolute freedom? • What is the relationship between the right to education, the freedom of speech, and academic freedom? Do the humanities play a role in clarifying these distinctions? Sponsored by Global Cultural Studies Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, University Professor.
Date: 05/02/2008 Modern Iraq: Two Iraqi Archaeologists Share Their Views Location: Iraq Description: The event will be a discussion between Behnam Al-Soof and Donny George Youkhana on Iraq's history and the effects of the current situation on Iraq's culture and preservation.
Date: 05/01/2008 Something to Hide: Writers and Artists Against the Surveillance Location: Description: Cosponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union Join international and local guests for a special reading designed to provoke reflection on controversial post-9/11 government surveillance programs in the United States. PEN’s Campaign for Core Freedoms has joined with the American Civil Liberties Union and other leading human-rights organizations to challenge some of the government’s most pernicious infringements on basic human rights, working to restore privacy protections for bookstore and library records, fighting to end the FBI’s unchecked use of National Security Letters, and challenging warrantless telephone and Internet surveillance by the N.S.A. Writers will read from works that illuminate the ways government surveillance threatens artistic and intellectual freedom.
Date: 04/17/2008 A Conversation with a Scholar at Risk Location: Georgia Description: A renowned human rights lawyer spoke at a lunchtime discussion hosted by the New York University Law School to discuss her personal struggles as a member of the opposition movement in Georgia, highlighting some of the judicial problems faced in post-Soviet countries as well as the importance of the international community in humanitarian crises. The scholar showcased a trailer for an upcoming documentary about the dangers she and her husband faced under the increasingly unstable Georgian political system and opened the floor to student questions. Students asked about her personal experiences and discussed the importance of political resistance, the role of international, national and non-governmental organizations, and ways that students and humanitarians can become involved. After the end of the formal discussion, inquisitive students circled around the scholar for an informal question-and-answer session.
Date: 04/10/2008 One Man's Iraq: Ten Thousand Years of Myth and Memory Location: Iraq Description: “One Man's Iraq: Ten Thousand Years of Myth and Memory” with Behnam Abu al-Soof, renowned Iraqi archaeologist and visiting professor of archaeology and international studies at Brown. Introduced by Sarah Wilcox, deputy director of the Scholar Rescue Fund, and moderated by Christopher Lydon, a national media figure and visiting fellow at the Watson Institute. Iraq is a society that produced the first lasting work of literature, the saga of Gilgamesh, and it was the center of the human story for thousands of years. It is one of the few Arab countries that cultivated a popular knowledge of its pre-Muslim past. Join with Iraqi archaeologist Behnam al-Soof and moderator Christopher Lydon as they discuss Iraq’s 10,000-year culture – and its last five years of ruination. A visiting professor at Brown, through the intercession of the Scholar Rescue Fund, al-Soof has decades of experience in teaching, research, and government administration of antiquities. He is not only an eminent archeologist – a hands-on digger in the buried cities of Northern Iraq. He has also been a popular commentator on Iraqi television about the meaning of that country’s long past.
Date: 04/10/2008 Russia and the Circassians: Internal Problem or International Matter? Location: Russia Description: Experts from Turkey, Russia, Europe and the U.S. discuss the 19th century conflict between Russia and the Circassians, and the role of contemporary Circassian nationalism in the future of the Circassians. Morning Panels Harvard Kennedy School Campus - Nye A 9:00-9:30 Breakfast 9:30-11:00 Panel One Stephen Shenfield, Johnson’s Russia List Irma Kreiten, Southhampton Univeristy Justin McCarthy, Louisville University Glen Howard, Jamestown Foundation 11:30-1:00 Panel Two Ibragim Yagan, For Human Rights Joshua Rubenstein, Amnesty International, USA Paul Goble, Institute of World Politics Afternoon Panel Davis Center - CGIS South Building, Rm. S050 1:15-2:15 Lunch 2:15-5:00 Panel John Colarusso, McMaster University Zack Barsaqua, Circassian Cultural Institute Baj Nusret Bas, Caucasian House Matthew Light, University of Massachusetts, Amherst Fatima Tlisova, Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Harvard University Glen Howard, Jamestown Foundation
Date: 04/09/2008 What is Intellectual Courage? Location: Description: New York University hosted a roundtable discussion on intellectual courage between NYU students and displaced scholars from China, Georgia, Pakistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo at NYU's Wagner School for Public Service. The scholars, all of whom have faced serious academic repression and, in some cases, physical abuse or imprisonment in their home countries, spoke about the dangers of political censorship and the importance of academic freedom in the modern world. Students discussed their desires to react to repression, inquiring about the role of NGOs and human rights groups in upholding academic freedom and focusing on lessons drawn from the scholars' experiences. The roundtable was followed by an informal discussion between students and scholars, during which opinions on current events in Darfur and Tibet were shared and discussed at length. The event is to be featured in the Wagner School's upcoming newsletter and will likely be duplicated in the future.
Date: 04/04/2008 Scholar at Risk Speaks in Bloomington, IL Location: Description: Speaker series event held at Illinois Wesleyan featuring Scholar at Risk Ana Dolidze.
Date: 03/27/2008 Pakistan: What Happens Now Location: Description: Arif Jamal, Lahore based scholar and journalist; Fellow, Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Harvard University speaks on Pakistan.
Date: 03/11/2008 Renowned defender of human rights, Mehrangiz Kar, to speak at Illinois Wesleyan University on March 11 Location: Iran Description: Mehrangiz Kar, a scholar from Iran assisted by the Scholars at Risk Network, will give a public lecture on women’s rights in Iran on March 11, 2008. Kar’s lecture, entitled “Under Attack: Women’s Rights in Iran,” addresses the struggle for women’s rights in Iran, focusing on the recent decision by the Iranian government to revoke the publishing license of Zanan, a women’s magazine. Kar’s visit is sponsored by the Office of International Studies. This visit aims to raise awareness about Illinois Wesleyan University’s participation in the Scholars at Risk Network by highlighting threats facing scholars like Kar and ways university communities can work to defend them. Mehrangiz Kar is an Iranian lawyer and writer, internationally renowned for her writings and activism in defense of women's and human rights. Kar came to world-wide attention in 2000 when she was imprisoned for expressing critical views about Iran's legal system while at an international conference in Berlin. In January 2001 she was convicted and sentenced to four years’ imprisonment. Kar was later released on bail and her sentence was reduced to six months’ imprisonment. Kar is currently a Scholars at Risk fellow at Wellesley College’s Newhouse Center for the Humanities, and she is concurrently a visiting fellow at Harvard University’s Carr Center. For more information about Scholars at Risk, please visit www.scholarsatrisk.org or contact Clare Robinson at (212) 998-2179. For information about the March 11 lecture at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, please contact Dr. Irving Epstein, Professor of Education, at (309) 556-3098. ###
Date: 03/11/2008 Human Rights Without Protection: Pre-trial Treatment of Criminal Defendants in China Location: China Description: A SAR scholar from China will speak at Columbia University on March 11, 2008. He is a former Peking University law lecturer and founder of an opposition party in China. He has spent time in prison, has published prize-winning papers and has translated several books. For more information, please contact Columbia Law School's Center for Chinese Legal Studies.
Date: 03/06/2008 Public lecture on post-conflict societies to be given by Scholars at Risk professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, March 6 Location: Rwanda Description: Jean Marie Kamatali, an academic from Rwanda assisted by Scholars at Risk, will give a public lecture on human rights in post-conflict societies on March 6, 2008. The event will be held from 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm at Davis Learning Center auditorium on Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Prescott campus. Kamatali’s visit will be part of the Honors Program’s Distinguished Guest Lecture Series, which features writers, scholars and scientists to provide diverse outlooks on the changing world. As the lecture’s title, “Back together again: The challenge of post-conflict and post-dictatorship societies,” indicates, this talk will address different key decisions post-conflict and post-dictatorship societies have made to move forward and to build societies based on democracy and the rule of law. Dr Jean-Marie Kamatali is the former dean of the law school at the National University of Rwanda. He is currently a Senior Fellow at Notre Dame Law School’s Center for Civil and Human Rights, where he is writing a book on transitional justice. Scholars at Risk began assisting Kamatali in 2004 after he fled Rwanda fearing arrest or violence for his speech at a conference in Ghana, where he openly discussed problems of the post-genocide Rwanda.
Date: 02/28/2008 Women's Rights and Human Rights in Iran: The Suppression of Zanan Location: Iran Description: Mehrangiz Kar, lawyer and human rights activist, and a visiting scholar this year at the Newhouse Center, spoke about the recent decision by the Iranian government to revoke the publishing license of the independent Iranian women's magazine, Zanan. The lunch and talk took place on Thursday, February 28th, from 12:30 - 1:30 p.m. at the Newhouse Center for the Humanities at Wellesley College.
Date: 02/27/2008 Introduction to the Scholars at Risk Network Location: Description: Boston-area universities and colleges interested in the SAR network were invited to a meeting at Wellesley College on February 27, 2008, where SAR Program Officer, Clare Robinson, and a SAR scholar from Iraq discussed the network. Any universities and colleges interested in learning more about the network or interested in hosting an informational meeting should contact the SAR office at scholarsatrisk@nyu.edu.
Date: 02/19/2008 AIEA Annual Conference Location: Description: Ana Dolidze spoke on a SAR panel on "Internationalizing Campus by Hosting Threatened Scholars" at this event.
Date: 02/07/2008 The Global Challenge to Academic and Intellectual Freedom Location: Iran, Ethiopia, Iraq, South Africa Description: Learn firsthand about the plight of endangered scholars around the world from a panel of scholars who have faced imprisonment, been forced into exile from their home countries to escape persecution, or were denied a visa to speak in the United States. This event is the first of several that will commemorate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the University in Exile at The New School and announces the new feature in Social Research, "Endangered Scholars Worldwide." Cosponsored by Social Research: An International Journal of the Social Sciences and The New School for Social Research. For additional information on the Endangered Scholars Worldwide initiative, please visit www.newschool.edu/endangeredscholars. This panel will be held at: The New School Theresa Lang Community and Student Center 55 West 13th Street Admission free. Reception to follow. RSVP to socres@newschool.edu or 212.229.5776 x3121
Date: 02/07/2008 Endangered Scholars Location: Description: Join us for an evening discussion on the plight of endangered scholars around the world with a panel of scholars who have faced imprisonment, have been forced into exile from their home countries in order to escape persecution, or were denied a visa to speak in the US. We hope the event will provide a forum for these scholars to share their stories and place those stories in the broader context of global challenges to academic and intellectual freedom. * Akbar Ganji, Investigative journalist, professor and writer (Iran) * Mehrangiz Kar, Human rights attorney, writer and activist; visiting scholar, Wellesley College (Iran) * Berhanu Nega, International Scholar in Residence, Economics, Bucknell University; Mayor-elect of Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) * Donny George Youkhanna, Former Director General of the National Museum in Baghdad; Former Chairman of the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage; Former President, Iraq State Board of Antiquities and Heritage; Visiting Professor, Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University (Iraq) * And Adam Habib via videoconference, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research, Innovation and Advancement, University of Johannesburg; Executive Director, Democracy & Governance research programme, Human Sciences Research Council of South Africa (South Africa) Moderated by: Samantha Power, Anna Lindh Professor of Practice of Global Leadership and Public Policy, Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, Harvard University The New School
Date: 02/01/2008 Academic Freedom Conference at DePaul University Location: Description: CHICAGO, IL – In light of the controversial tenure denials of eminent Middle East scholar Norman G. Finkelstein and International Studies professor Mehrene Larudee earlier last year at DePaul University, prominent scholars from across the country are coming together for a two-day conference at DePaul, on February 1-2, to lecture about the threats facing academic freedom and Middle Eastern studies at universities. In addition to DePaul's cases, the efforts to silence scholars such as John Mearsheimer (University of Chicago) and Stephen Walt (Harvard University), and the tenure controversies of Nadia Abu El-Haj (Barnard College) and Joseph Massad (Columbia University) have all inspired the conference, which seeks to protect as well as preserve academic freedom through honest and informed debate. The event is hosted by the DePaul Academic Freedom Committee, and co-sponsored by the DePaul University International Studies Program, the Peace Studies Program, the History Department, and the Department of Philosophy.* The Academic Freedom Committee is still accepting a call for papers to be submitted by professors or students for the two-day conference. For more information, please visit http://www.academicfreedomchicago.org. The event is to be held at the Lincoln Park Student Center 2250 N. Sheffield Ave., at DePaul University. *DePaul University is not sponsoring this event, only the listed departments and programs.
Date: 12/17/2007 Status of Human Rights in Iran Location: Iran Description: A SAR scholar from Iran will be speaking at Rutgers University on Monday, December 17th about the current human rights situations in Iran.
Date: 12/05/2007 SAR Scholars at Harvard Share Their Stories Location: Iraq, Iran, China, Turkey Description: Harvard University invited SAR staff to visit the scholars currently hosted on campus. A lunch was held during which the five scholars shared their experiences and spoke with SAR staff about their futures.
Date: 11/10/2007 Zimbabwean Scholar Speaks to NYU Students Location: Zimbabwe Description: A Zimbabwean scholar discussed human rights and academic freedom issues in Africa with a group of over thirty-five undergraduates at NYU on November 10th. Touching on his own experiences in the classroom in Africa and drawing on comments made by the students, the scholar advised the students on promoting understanding of these issues within their communities.
Date: 11/05/2007 Workshop on Press Freedom and Democracy Location: Description: CGCS will be holding a one-day workshop on the measurements of press freedom around the world. In this workshop, we aim to compare the underlying philosophies and priorities informing the construction of various media indices, discuss their strengths and shortcomings, and have an open debate about uses and misuses of the indices among the NGO, donor, government and academic communities, as well as by the media themselves.
Date: 11/03/2007 Felix Kaputu Speaks at Amnesty International Group 11's Annual Concert Location: DRC Description: Felix Kaputu, a scholar-at-risk and professor at Purchase College in New York, spoke to a crowd of Amnesty International activists on November 3rd, 2007. Dr. Kaputu reflected on his experiences as a persectued academic in the Democratic Republic of Congo and thanked AI for their efforts to secure his release.
Date: 10/30/2007 Sri Lankan Scholar-at-Risk Speaks at Richmond Location: Sri Lanka Description: Dr. Ratnajeevan Hoole, a Sri Lankan academic assisted by Scholars at Risk, will give a public lecture on academic freedom and human rights, including a discussion on his experiences as a scholar in Sri Lanka. The event will be held on November 12 from 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm at [LECTURE HALL] on the University of Richmond campus. Hoole’s visit is sponsored by the Office of International Education. This visit aims to raise awareness about the University of Richmond’s participation in the Scholars at Risk, a network of universities and colleges working to assist persecuted scholars worldwide, by highlighting threats facing scholars like Hoole and ways university communities can work to defend them. “Scholars at Risk is extremely grateful to the University of Richmond, particularly Dean Uliana Gabara—who we welcome as a new member of the SAR board—and Krittika Onsanit in the Office of International Education, for their continued work to promote academic freedom,” says Clare Robinson, Program Officer of Scholars at Risk. Scholars at Risk began assisting Hoole after he was forced to flee Sri Lanka in March 2006; he had been receiving threats to his life for his work in human rights. Hoole is currently a visiting professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Drexel University, where he has taught since September 2006. He is concurrently the Vice Chancellor of University of Jaffna in Sri Lanka, a post he was forced to flee after receiving threats to his life. Hoole has extensive teaching experience in electrical engineering and human rights; he has taught at universities in the United States, Sri Lanka, Singapore and Nigeria. In addition to his academic degrees in engineering, Hoole was trained in human rights education at the International Centre for Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.
Date: 10/30/2007 Sri Lankan Scholar-at-Risk Speaks at Richmond Location: Sri Lanka Description: Dr. Ratnajeevan Hoole, a Sri Lankan academic assisted by Scholars at Risk, will give a public lecture on academic freedom and human rights, including a discussion on his experiences as a scholar in Sri Lanka. The event will be held on November 12 from 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm at [LECTURE HALL] on the University of Richmond campus. Hoole’s visit is sponsored by the Office of International Education. This visit aims to raise awareness about the University of Richmond’s participation in the Scholars at Risk, a network of universities and colleges working to assist persecuted scholars worldwide, by highlighting threats facing scholars like Hoole and ways university communities can work to defend them. “Scholars at Risk is extremely grateful to the University of Richmond, particularly Dean Uliana Gabara—who we welcome as a new member of the SAR board—and Krittika Onsanit in the Office of International Education, for their continued work to promote academic freedom,” says Clare Robinson, Program Officer of Scholars at Risk. Scholars at Risk began assisting Hoole after he was forced to flee Sri Lanka in March 2006; he had been receiving threats to his life for his work in human rights. Hoole is currently a visiting professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Drexel University, where he has taught since September 2006. He is concurrently the Vice Chancellor of University of Jaffna in Sri Lanka, a post he was forced to flee after receiving threats to his life. Hoole has extensive teaching experience in electrical engineering and human rights; he has taught at universities in the United States, Sri Lanka, Singapore and Nigeria. In addition to his academic degrees in engineering, Hoole was trained in human rights education at the International Centre for Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.
Date: 10/10/2007 Ethiopian political scientist to speak at University of Richmond Location: Ethiopia Description: Dr. Taye Woldesmiate, a visiting professor at Illinois Wesleyan University, gave a lecture on human rights, civil society and democracy in Africa on October 10th at the University of Richmond. Woldesmiate reflected on his experiences as a scholar and as president of the Ethiopian Teachers’ Association, discussing the situation facing Ethiopia today.
Date: 09/06/2007 The Struggle for Democracy in Ethiopia: A Talk by Dr. Berhanu Nega Location: Ethiopia Description: Dr. Nega was held as a political prisoner in Ethiopia for almost two years, along with thousands of others in the current government's crackdown on dissent. Recently released from prison, he was in New York to share his experiences at his alma mater, The New School for Social Research on Thursday, September 6th at 7:30 pm. at Swayduck Auditorium at 65 Fifth Ave.
Date: 04/14/2007 Symposium: Human Rights and Academic Repression Location: United States Description: The University of San Francisco and the Scholars at Risk Network, in cooperation with the USF Center for Law and Global Justice, USF Human Rights Working Group, McCarthy Center for Public Good, the Peace Review, and the USF Journal of Law and Social Challenges are organizing a symposium on “Human Rights and Academic Repression.”
Date: 04/13/2007 SAR NETWORK BIENNIAL CONGRESS Location: United States Description: SAR's Biennial Network Meeting will be held on April 13, 2007 in San Francisco. The meeting is open to all SAR members, Partner Network members, affiliates and registered prospective members. Following the meeting on April 14, 2007 SAR will co-sponsor with the University of San Francisco a symposium, "Human Rights & Academic Repression" exploring the intersections--existing and potential--between international human rights principles, standards and techniques and traditional understandings of academic freedom and institutional autonomy in the higher education sector.
Date: 03/26/2007 Mehrangiz Kar, renowned defender of human rights to speak at the University of Richmond, March 26 Location: United States, Iran Description: Iranian human rights advocate and scholar Mehrangiz Kar will visit the University of Richmond as part of its Scholars at Risk program on March 26, 2007. Kar will give a public lecture on human rights and democracy, reflecting on her experiences as a scholar in Iran.
Date: 03/03/2007 Academic Freedom, Human Rights and Democratization Location: Description: Panel discussion on Scholars at Risk at the 2007 International Studies Association Annual Conference.
Date: 02/12/2007 Rollins College to host a Scholars at Risk fellow from Zimbabwe, Feb 12-14 Location: Description: Rollins College will host a scholar from Zimbabwe* assisted by Scholars at Risk as a visiting guest lecturer on February 12-14, 2007.
Date: 12/29/2006 Scholars at Risk panel at MLA Convention Location: Philadelphia, PA Description: The Modern Language Association hosted a panel on Scholars at Risk at the December 2006 Annual Convention.
Date: 11/29/2006 The Plight of Academics in Iraq Location: London, UK Description: A panel discussion on the current threats to scholars and universities in Iraq. Co-sponsored by the University College London, Council for Assisting Refugee Academics, and CARA/SAR UK Universities Network.
Date: 11/19/2006 Hazardous Conditions: Academic Freedom and Academic Life in Iraq Location: Boston, MA Description: Chair: Dina Rizk Khoury, George Washington U Rob Quinn, Director, Scholars at Risk Network SAR Scholars from Iraq MESA, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) have issued joint statements expressing alarm at the current state of higher education in Iraq, with particular attention focused on the atmosphere of lawlessness and violence that places Iraqi academics in extreme peril. In this session, Iraqi academics join academic freedom experts to discuss the state of intellectual life in Iraq—from the oppressive control of Saddam Hussein’s regime to the war in 2003 and the subsequent American occupation of the country.
Date: 11/16/2006 SAR Speaker Series at Cascadia Community College Location: Description: Cascadia Community College and University of Washington Bothell celebrate International Education Week with a speaker from the Scholars At Risk Network. The event will take place on Thursday, November 16th at 7pm in the Northcreek Events Center on the shared campus in Bothell, Washington. The visiting scholar will be speaking about global human rights issues coupled with the power of media. This event is sponsored by Cascadia's International Club, Cascadia Student Government, Cascadia Activities Board, and Univ. of Washington Bothell International Programs.
Date: 11/09/2006 Betrayal of Democracy Location: Description: Come see this riveting documentary and hear remarks from Obang Methos on the crisis of democracy in Ethiopia and get a unique insider’s view into responsibility and change in the Horn of Africa. Co-Sponsored by the New York City Bar Association International Human Rights Committee, Scholars at Risk, NYU Africa House, and NYU Law Students for Human Rights.
Date: 10/25/2006 University of Delaware Faculty Forum "Scholars at Risk" Location: Description: A Faculty Forum on the Scholars at Risk network, set to run from noon-2 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 25, in multipurpose rooms A and B in the Trabant University Center, will feature as its keynote speaker a professor of linguistics from Rwanda, whose name is being withheld for personal safety reasons.
Date: 03/15/2006 Launch of CARA-SAR UK Network Location: United Kingdom Description: The inaugural meeting and launch of the CARA-SAR UK Network that works to assist threatened and refugee scholars in the UK. NYU President John Sexton spoke at the event.
Date: 12/06/2005 SAR Activist from Afghanistan speaks at Goucher College, Dec. 6 Location: Description: A scholar* from Afghanistan assisted by Scholars at Risk (SAR) gave a public lecture at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, December 6, in Goucher College’s Merrick Lecture Hall. His lecture reflected on challenges facing intellectuals in developing countries, drawing in particular on his own experiences as a scholar in Afghanistan. *Name withheld
Date: 06/23/2005 Cymru Refugees & Asylum Seekers Academic Council (CRAC) launch Location: United Kingdom Description: Robert Quinn, Director of Scholars at Risk and the Scholar Rescue Fund, attends the launch of the Cymru Refugees & Asylum Seekers Academic Council (CRAC) which provides information about access to Higher Education and sources of potential funders.
Date: 06/16/2005 Academic Freedom in Afghanistan Location: Description: Haverford College hosts a SAR/SRF scholar from Afghanistan as guest speaker. The scholar's lecture was given at the opening plenary at the Friends Association for Higher Education's conference entitled "Centering on the Edge: Intellect, Spirit, Action." Robert Quinn, director of SAR, introduced the scholar and discussed the work of Scholars at Risk and the IIE Scholar Rescue Fund to assist threatened scholars.
Date: 04/28/2005 SAR Conference on "Global Strategies for Defending Academic Freedom" Location: Description: Scholars at Risk held its network meeting and conference themed “Global Strategies for Defending Academic Freedom” on April 28-29th at New York University.
Date: 04/27/2005 WBUR Boston-NPR Broadcasts Segment on SAR Location: Description: Host, Dick Gordon, broadcasts a segment on free thinking and free expression, highlighting Scholars at Risk as an organization on the frontlines of academic freedom. Director, Rob Quinn, and two Scholars were guests on the show.
Date: 11/16/2004 Scholars at Risk Speaker at UC Davis Campus Location: Description: Mehrangiz Kar, an Iranian scholar, visits UC Davis campus as a Scholars at Risk speaker. The event was featured in The California Aggie, a UC Davis campus newspaper.
Date: 10/19/2001 "Working to Globalize Justice" Speech Location: Description: At Amnesty International USA's Midwest Regional Conference in St. Louis University, MO, SAR scholar Mohammed Maimul Khan delivered a speech entitled, "Working to Globalize Justice; the Future of the Human Rights Movement."

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