SAR's "Courage to Think" conference
The Network
& 10th anniversary celebration
Courage to Think campaign: Scholars at Risk's Courage to Think campaign celebrates courageous individuals who advance ideas against resistance. Institutions are invited to join in the campaign by hosting a "Courage to Think” dialogue on their campus. Other opportunities include celebrations of International Academic Freedom Day, SAR's Regional Speaker Series, and "Share Your Stories", a chance to share with SAR video, photos, audio or other stories about how a campus has been involved in protecting scholars and promoting academic freedom. More information is available here.
Helping Scholars
SAR Announces Publication of How-to-Host Handbooks
Thanks to the generous support of the Vivian G. Prins Foundation, Scholars at Risk announces the publication of three handbooks that provide guidance and advice to network members and scholars regarding hosting and speaking arrangements. The series includes a How to Host Handbook and Scholar Handbook to help institutions and scholars, respectively, with the hosting process; and a Speaker Series Handbook for institutions, organizations and affiliates interested in inviting scholars to speak on campus through the Scholars at Risk Speaker Series. Scholars at Risk member institutions in good standing receive two copies of each handbook as a benefit of membership. To obtain your copies today, to download a PDF version of each handbook, and to learn more about the content of each handbook, visit our handbooks page. Academic Freedom
SAR and NEAR issue latest edition of University Values
On July 29, 2011, Scholars at Risk (SAR) and the Network for Education and Academic Rights (NEAR) issued the latest edition of University Values, a bulletin on international academic freedom, autonomy and responsibility. The bulletin features articles, essays and activity announcements promoting discussion and understanding of university values--including access, accountability/ transparency, academic freedom/quality, autonomy/good governance, and social responsibility. NEAR and SAR coordinate the production and circulation of the bulletin, in cooperation with an international network of contributing organizations and individuals. To read the articles, access the bulletin.
Advocacy
On January 20, 2012, Scholars at Risk issued a statement welcoming the release of two individuals, including Pham Minh Hoang, a professor of mathematics and blogger in Vietnam. Prof. Hoang was arrested on August 13, 2010 and was later convicted of holding membership in Viet Tan, a banned political group. He was released on January 13, 2012 after 17 months in prison; however, his conviction also includes a three-year house arrest sentence. SAR urges the appropriate authorities in Vietnam to reconsider Professor Hoang’s additional sentence, which suggests retaliation against a scholar for the peaceful exercise of fundamental rights of free expression and association that are guaranteed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.SAR also welcomes the release of Yassin Ziadeh, the brother of exiled Syrian scholar and activist Radwan Ziadeh, who was detained on August 30, 2011 and released on November 5, 2011 without charge. He appears to have been held in retaliation for the academic and human rights work of his brother who left Syria in 2007 after receiving threats. Scholars at Risk remains concerned for the many other scholars, activists and intellectuals who reportedly have been detained in Syria in recent months. more>>
To view SAR's letters on behalf of these and other scholars, please visit our Alerts / Scholars in Prison page.
| SAR News Headlines | SAR Events |
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02/02/2012, Up by his bootstraps “I heard people talk about places like Harvard, Brown, and universities in Europe,” said Tararith Kho of his childhood. “But I come from a poor place close to the Thai border. I never dreamed I would come here.” He is now a fellow in Harvard’s Scholars... 02/02/2012, Scottish universities facing 'politicisation by SNP' The running of Scotland’s universities will become politicised under SNP proposals to introduce elections and quotas for key officials, experts have warned. 02/01/2012, Quiet revolution, but tasks loom WHO would have predicted? Five years ago Australia was the only OECD country experiencing a declining share of public funding for higher education in gross domestic product: a fall of 4 per cent compared with an average rise of 49 per cent in the decade... |
03/30/2012, Russia after the Collapse of Communism: Prospects for Liberalization SAR member Beloit College will host a conference on “Russia after the Collapse of Communism: Prospects for Liberalization”. The events will feature Yuri Dzhibladze, founder and president of the Moscow-based... 12/13/2011, Scholars at Risk Launch SAR member Ghent University in Belgium hosts an event launching the university’s participation in the Scholars at Risk network. Faculty from Ghent and a SAR scholar will present at the events. 12/01/2011, Just Performance: Enacting Justice in the Wake of Violence. A SAR scholar presents as part of the Brandeis University symposium, “Just Performance: Enacting Justice in the Wake of Violence.” For more information, please visit http://www.brandeis.edu/ethics/events/JustPerformance.html. |