The Vivian G. Prins Scholars at Risk Speaker Series offers SAR member institutions the  opportunity to invite a SAR-affiliated scholar or practitioner to speak with students, faculty, and the campus community about their areas of academic and professional expertise. Speakers may also offer to explore contemporary challenges facing academics and higher education institutions, attacks on academic freedom, and human rights more generally. 

The series is named in recognition of the Vivian G. Prins Foundation’s extraordinary generosity and the impact it has had on SAR’s work and community, in particular through support for staff time to make the Speaker Series possible. 

 

 

Scholars and Practitioners 

Scholars and practitioners* affiliated with the SAR network represent a wide range of academic disciplines and professional experience around the world including the humanities, arts, social sciences, STEM, law, journalism, and human rights. Throughout the speaker selection and event planning process, SAR staff work closely with each invited speaker and the hosting member institution to explore opportunities and support the logistics.

*SAR practitioners-at-risk include journalists, writers, democracy or human rights advocates, lawyers, or artists who face threats or persecution due to their ideas, public voice, or professional work. Through the Practitioners at Risk program, SAR supports these individuals by offering co-funding to qualifying universities willing to host them in academic settings.

Events

Each event in the speaker series is tailored to fit the interests and capacity of the host campus. An event may include a lecture, panel, workshop, informal seminar or classroom visit, or some combination thereof. Institutions may also host these events virtually. Events may last from a few hours to one or more days.

In most cases, the guest speaker visits a member institution and spends time discussing both their academic work and the threats experienced in their home country, in turn exploring global academic freedom and human rights issues. Institutions interested in hosting a scholar speaker are welcome to explore the series with the SAR team.

Please note that the hosting institution is expected to cover all expenses related to the scholar’s participation, including travel and an honorarium. However, limited funding and additional opportunities for programmatic support may be available to help facilitate these visits, subject to availability and with special consideration for member institutions. Explore having your institution join the SAR Network.

Please reach out to sar-speaker-series@nyu.edu to learn more.

INVITE A SCHOLAR OR PRACTITIONER TO YOUR CAMPUS

Download the Speaker Series Handbook

 

 

SAR scholars and practitioners available for events:

 

Scholar ID	Location	Field	Areas of Expertise
Afghanistan-518	USA	Philosophy, Islamic Studies	History of philosophy in Afghanistan, women in classical Islamic intellectualism, political Islam
Afghanistan-558	Canada	Engineering of Agricultural Economics	Agricultural economics, politics, development, rural poverty, international trade of agricultural products, poppy cultivation policy, food security in Afghanistan
Afghanistan-597	Germany	Chemistry	Fabrication of doped titanium nanotubes with foreign ions, cementitious system
Afghanistan-599	Canada	Medical Physiology, Midwifery	National family planning, Afghan men's involvement in family planning, neurophysiology, nursing
Afghanistan-687	USA	Nutrition, Public Health	Non-communicable diseases, health policy and strategy, nutrition for behaviors changes, maternal/infant/child nutrition, integrated management of malnutrition, nuclear and radiological material waste management
Afghanistan-710	USA	Media, Journalism, Refugee Mental Health	Social media and the spread of terrorism in Afghanistan, struggle of Afghan immigrants in the USA, Afghan immigrant children and the US education system
Afghanistan-777	Sweden	Psychology	Family counseling, couples therapy, mental health
Afghanistan-832	Italy	Law	Private law, civil law, commercial law, private international law, commercial arbitration law, procedural law, arbitration, globalization of law
Afghanistan-834	USA	Persian Literature	Contemporary Persian literature of Afghan women,contemporary Afghan literature, gender studies, feminism, gender equality, critical literature in anthropological and sociological studies
Afghanistan-837	USA	Economics, Sustainable Development	Sustainable development policy, development economics, microeconomics, behavioral economics, conflict and development in Afghanistan
Afghanistan-841	Sweden	Law & Human Rights	Rule of law, academic freedom, human rights, minority rights, asylum policies, and migration studies
Afghanistan-854	USA	Water Resource Management	Engineering, watershed modelling and management, human-water systems and socio-economic modeling, artificial intelligence in hydrology, sustainable agriculture, water governance, water security
Afghanistan-940	USA	English Literature, Cultural Studies	Poetry, play, translation, journalism, Persian and English literature
Afghanistan-1605	Norway	Gender Studies, Business	Economic policy, corporate finance, financial management, macroeconomic, gender responsive budgeting, gender issues in Afghanistan
Afghanistan-2098	Canada	Forestry & Environmental Protection	Women's empowerment, sustainable food systems, alternative food networks and organic farming, sustaiable urban landscapes, land use change, the impact of foreign direct investment
Bahrain-517	Finland	Human Rights, Interfaith Dialogue	Political theology, human rights advocacy, religion and democracy, faith-based diplomacy, religious texts, human rights within the Islamic framework, religion and politics, religion and conflict resolution
Colombia-539	Colombia	Social Sciences, Collective Health, Gender Studies	Human right to health and education, social activism, health and gender, gender-based violence, sexual health, reproductive health, sexual and reproductive rights (Spanish-speaking events preferred)
Congo(Brazaville)-513	USA	Filmmaking, Documentaries, Human Rights	Film, cinema, human rights, democracy, authoritarianism, African political history, African studies
Egypt-608	USA	Human Rights	Authoritarian regimes in the Middle East and North Africa, human rights, social movements, criminal justice
Ethiopia-578	USA	Development, Food Security	International development, food security
Ethiopia-694	USA	Economics, Development, Industrialization, Sustainability	Development economics, investment, trade, industry policy, private sector development, policy and practice of science/innovation/technology (STI), entrepreneurship, small businesses development, job creation
Ethiopia-704	USA	International Law	Comparative law, law and society, African studies, international courts, dispute-resolution mechanisms, human rights, supranational legal institutions
Ethiopia-708	Denmark	Economics	Development, behavioral and experimental economics
Ethiopia-727	Australia	Nursing, Midwifery	Palliative care in rural and regional health care settings, adult health nursing, professionalism in nursing, life-threatening illnesses
Ethiopia-742	USA	Law	Criminal and civil litigations, pro bono, political prisoners
Ethiopia-766	Norway	Public Policy, Development	Democratic governance, corruption, gender equality, public trust, politics, political economy
Ethiopia-776	Norway	Media and Communications	Journalism
Ethiopia-781	United Kingdom	Media and Communications	Journalism and communication, media and communication, digital media, social media, new and online media
Guatemala-503	Mexico	International Law, Human Rights	Legal and social sciences, law, notary, international law, indigenous law
Iran-663	Norway	Political Psychology, Human Rights	Political psychology, human rights, democracy and theocracy, theocratic ideology's impact on democratic behavior, women studies, organizational psychology
Iran-745	Finland	Women and Gender Studies	Gender, culture, development, religion, migration, academic freedom and freedom of learning, political and intellectual history
Iraq-801	USA	Philosophy	Political philosophy, critical theory of social space, Frankfurt school, international relations, minorities in the Middle East, social ecology movement
Mexico-510	USA	Law, Human Rights	Human rights, democracy, justice system, gross human rights investigations including enforced disappearance, torture and independence of prosecutors
Pakistan-618	USA	Journalism, Human Rights, Asian Studies	Human rights, journalism, fundamental freedoms, minority rights, non-violent resistance, and democratic policy and procedures, gender equality, religious extremism, freedom of expression in the South Asian region
Pakistan-628	Canada	Public Policy	Religion and politics, leadership, religious fundamentalism in politics, misuse of religion in politics, non-state human security and emancipation, systems and structures of repression
Palestine-628	Italy	Organizational Sociology	Political and economic sociology
Syria-653	Sweden	Archaeology	Heritage studies, Middle Eastern archaeology, the Bronze Age, the impact of civil wars on the patrimony and armed conflict, using heritage for peace-building, the misuse of heritage for political ends
Syria-808	Norway	Linguistics, Translation	Language and linguistic studies, translation, cultural understanding through translation
Syria-934	Finland	Social Studies of Gender	Gender, culture, society, globalized politics of queerness and community-building
Türkiye-543	Norway	Law, Human Rights	Human rights law, democracy, comparative constitutional law, electoral integrity, theories of constitution-making, Turkish constitutional politics and law, academic freedom, democracy education
Türkiye-580	Greece	Psychology, Peace Studies, Childhood Studies, Social Policy	Academic freedom, psycho-social consequences of personal debt around the world, neoliberal decay in for-profit universities, martyrdom and militarism, university entrance exams in Turkey, children’s rights
Türkiye-583	Germany	Psychology	Clinical psychology, gender, sexuality, ethics in research, psychotherapy, mental care within the LGBTI community in Turkey, mental health care access for refugees
Türkiye-616	Canada	Educational Sciences	Educational research, professional development of teachers, mentoring, multicultural education, curriculum studies, teaching and learning
Türkiye-643	Canada	History, Political Science	History of the Middle East, Turkish politics, international organizations, comparative history, international law, the Cyprus problem and intellectual history
Türkiye-1321	Belgium	Migration Studies	Human geography, identity, space, history of geographic thought, multiculturalism, minorities, Turkish and Muslim immigration to Europe and North America, religious and ethnic minorities in Turkey, postcolonial theory
Türkiye-1366	Netherlands	Physics	Condensed matter, nanostructured materials, solar cells, renewable energy, photovoltaics, solid state physics
Türkiye-1484	Germany	Economics	Development economic, economic growth, regional policies, regional inequalities, economic geography, innovation, university research, socio-economic inequalities
Türkiye-1585	Switzerland	Criminal Justice	Police and society, crime prevention and evaluation, crime policies, deradicalization, transnational repression, Turkey's democratic backsliding, institutional ethnography, international security
Türkiye-1640	Germany	Sociology	Political sociology, Kurdish mobilization and national struggle, theories of the state, subject formation, social movement theories, youth studies, standpoint epistemology, race, and ethnicity
Türkiye-1821	Switzerland	Medicine	Medical dermatology, general dermatology, dermatoimmunology
Uganda-535	United Kingdom	Human Rights Law, Transitional Justice	International law, international relations, transitional justice, peace studies, criminal justice
Uganda-542	USA	Theater, Playwright, Postcolonial Studies	Film, plays, novels, manuscripts, history, colonialism, anti-homosexuality law, exile
Ukraine-639	USA	History, Library Science and Information Studies	Decolonization of history, history of Ukraine, history of Russia, USSR and post-Soviet Russia, Russia's war in Ukraine, politics of memory, national narrative, socio-cultural practices and identity, information manipulations and political myths
Ukraine-783	USA	Physics	General relativity, gravitation, cosmology, dark energy, black holes, expanding universe
Yemen-540	USA	Biotechnology	Political psychology, human rights, democracy and theocracy, the impact of theocratic ideology on democratic behavior, women studies, organizational psychology
Yemen-627	Italy	Computer Science	Artificial intelligence, machine learning, time series forecasting, Generative AI, Large Languge Models (LLMs), software engineering
Yemen-640	Germany	Computer Science	Artificial intelligence, machine learning, causal inference, time series forecasting, natural language processing, deep learning, bioinformatics, sentiment analysis
Yemen-674	Italy	Microbiology	Microorganisms, biomolecules, biological components in immune modulation, wound healing and biomarkers
Yemen-733	Switzerland	Information Science	Internet of Things (IoT), cybersecurity, software engineering, human rights, data protection, promotion of freedom and equality
Zimbabwe-556	Canada	Adult Education, Counseling, Psychology, Public Health	Government, civil society organizations, education, HIV/AIDS, HIV/AIDS awareness in schools
Zimbabwe-565	Canada	Journalism, International Relations	Journalism, radio, television, online media; issues of health, human rights, and gender equality

*Some academic experts requested to not be featured on the public roster. Please reach out to sar-speaker-series@nyu.edu to learn more.