SAR Student Advocacy Seminars Advocated for 10 Unjustly Imprisoned Scholars and Students in the 2021-22 Year

[NEW YORK, Oct. 6, 2022] — Scholars at Risk (SAR) published its inaugural Student Advocacy Seminar end-of-year report detailing the research and advocacy work of over 320 students at 16 universities in 8 different countries during the 2021-2022 academic year. Participants raised awareness about 10 Scholars in Prison Project cases, ranging from East Asia to Central Europe to the Middle East. During the year, seminars ran social media campaigns, held public events, and organized meetings with public officials to demand global action. Read the report here.

The report also details the expansion of SAR’s Student Advocacy Days, traditionally held in Washington D.C, to this year’s three regional events in Canada, Europe, and the United States. In Canada and Europe, students presented their research and participated in online workshops on best practices in advocacy. In the United States, 31 students and faculty held in-person 17 meetings with members of U.S. Congress.

SAR’s Student Advocacy Seminars blend hands-on, real-world experience with classroom learning, providing university students the opportunity to engage in human rights research and advocacy in partnership with SAR’s Scholars in Prison Project and Academic Freedom Monitoring Project. Students research country conditions, monitor cases, and work collaboratively to advocate on behalf of wrongfully detained scholars.

The 2021-2022 participating universities featured in the report are:

• Roger Williams University, USA
• University of Nebraska Omaha, USA
• University of British Columbia, Canada (fall)
• University of Nottingham, UK
• University of Iowa, USA
• University of Oslo, Norway
• University of Padova, Italy
• Muhlenberg College, USA
• University of Dundee, Scotland
• Drexel University, USA
• Management Center Innsbruck, Austria
• Bard College Berlin, Germany / Open Society University Network
• University of British Columbia, Canada (spring)
• Ruhr University Bochum, Germany
• Metropolitan State University of Denver, USA
• Fairfield University, USA

Student Advocacy Seminars are available to all SAR member institutions. If your institution is interested in starting a seminar, please contact SAR’s Student Advocacy Seminar Coordinator Adam Braver at adam.braver@nyu.edu.