SAR Press Release:

1st NYU "Scholar at Risk," Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim, to discuss democratization in the Middle East

SAR-PR-04-02, March 25, 2004

New York, NY - The Scholars at Risk Network and the Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies at New York University will host a lunchtime seminar on "Democratization in the Middle East" with Dr. Saad Eddin Ibrahim, director of the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies in Egypt. Dr. Ibrahim is the first Scholars at Risk scholar to visit the university since the Network's arrival at NYU in late 2003. The seminar will be held on April 20 from 12:30 - 1:45 pm at 50 Washington Square South in the Richard Ettinghausen Library of the NYU Hagop Kevorkian Center.

Ibrahim came to world-wide attention in 2000 when he was imprisoned and tried in Egypt on charges widely denounced as politically motivated by international audiences. Ibrahim was acquitted with 27 colleagues in March 2003 by Egypt's highest appeals court after spending more than 500 days in prison. "Dr. Ibrahim is a true champion of academic freedom," says Scholars at Risk Director Robert Quinn, "His is exactly the type of important, courageous, intellectual voice that Scholars at Risk was created to honor and defend."

Considered one of the leading public intellectuals in the Arab world, Ibrahim's research spans a range of topics - from sociological analyses of Arab society to studies of Egypt's armed Islamists. He has authored numerous books including Egypt Islam & Democracy, Arabism in Egypt, Sociology of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, and Arab Society: Social Science Perspectives. Ibrahim has worked with various NGOs and international organizations, having served in such capacities as Secretary General of the Egyptian Independent Commission for Electoral Review an advisor on Civil Society to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, and a member of the International Board of Minority Rights Group in London.

This seminar is co-sponsored by the NYU Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies and the Scholars at Risk Network. Scholars at Risk is an international network of more than 80 universities and colleges working to promote academic freedom and to defend the human rights of scholars worldwide. Scholars at Risk relocated to NYU from the University of Chicago in late 2003. Scholars at Risk's primary activity is to arrange short-term, emergency visits to Network member institutions in the US and abroad for scholars like Ibrahim who suffer because of their work, prominence, or exercise of their basic human rights. Since late 2000, Scholars at Risk has received requests for assistance from more than 450 candidates in 84 countries and has arranged fellowships, lectures or other assistance for more than 75 scholars. For more information about Scholars at Risk, visit: http://scholarsatrisk.nyu.edu or call (212) 998-2179.

The NYU Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies, which is organizing the seminar and hosting Ibrahim's visit to NYU fosters the interdisciplinary study of the modern and contemporary Middle East and works to enhance the public understanding of the region. For more information about the Kevorkian Center, visit: http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/program/neareast

"We are so grateful to NYU and in particular the President and Provost for welcoming Scholars at Risk to campus," said Quinn, "and to the Kevorkian Center for their support for Dr. Ibrahim and for organizing this timely and important discussion."

The seminar is free and open to the public. Media and non-NYU persons interested in attending the event should arrange access by contacting Carla Stuart at 212-998-2179.

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