SAR Press Release:

SAR to Hold Conference on Academic Freedom at NYU, April 29
SAR-PR-04-15 (5-04-05)

New York, NY - The Scholars at Risk Network will co-sponsor a conference themed "Global Strategies for Defending Academic Freedom" in collaboration with the Institute of International Education's Scholar Rescue Fund and the Open Society Institute. The conference will be held on April 29, 2005, from 9:00-5:30 p.m. at New York University.

The conference will focus on exploring strategies that will prevent attacks and improve overall conditions. The program will include panel discussions that explore the effectiveness of current responses to attacks on scholars, new methods and strategies for prevention, international standards of academic freedom, and the role and responsibilities of universities in defending academic freedom. The conference will close with a panel reflecting on challenges to academic freedom in the United States.

Scholars at Risk is an international network of more than 100 universities and colleges working to promote academic freedom and to defend the human right of scholars worldwide. Network members provide temporary academic positions for scholars persecuted in their home countries because of their speaking, research or writing. Since 2000, Scholars at Risk has worked on more than 500 requests for assistance from scholars from 90 countries around the world. It has intervened in more than 100 cases and arranged positions for more than five dozen scholars.

"By their research and writing aimed at generating new knowledge and understanding, scholars make themselves targets of those whose power depends on conventional thinking, out-dated tradition and established authority" says Robert Quinn, director of Scholars at Risk and the Scholar Rescue Fund. "As a result, scholars suffer enormously in many places, including intimidation, imprisonment, and too frequently assassination attempts." According to Quinn, the harm stretches well beyond the individuals directly targeted. "Entire communities can be intimidated by an attack on a single, prominent intellectual" Quinn says. "We all lose when these important, creative voices are silenced."

The April 29th conference will bring together formerly-threatened scholars with academics, human rights advocates and other experts to discuss threats to academic freedoms and free inquiry, including violent attacks against scholars. Participants include: Farhad Kazemi, New York University; Robert Quinn, Director, Scholars at Risk Network and Executive Director, IIE Scholar Rescue Fund; Balakrishnan Rajagopal, Director, MIT Program on Human Rights and Justice, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Henry Jarecki, Chair, IIE Scholar Rescue Fund; Stephen Toope, World University Service, Canada; Anatoli Mikhailov, Rector, European Humanities University, Belarus; Sari Nusseibeh, President, Al-Quds University, West Bank; Orlando Albornoz, Universidad Central de Venezuela; John Akker, Network for Education & Academic Rights, UK; Carol Corillon, National Academies of Science; Cynthia Irvin, Research Triangle Institute; Christopher Walker, Director of Studies, Freedom House; Audrey Chapman, Director, Science & Human Rights Program, American Association for the Advancement of Science; Domna Stanton, President, Modern Language Association; Lisa Anderson, Dean, School of International & Public Affairs, Columbia University; Roger Bowen, General Secretary, American Assoc. of University Professors; Justin Thorens, University of Geneva and Chair, Task Force on Academic Freedom, International Association of Universities; Catharine Stimpson, Dean, Graduate School of Arts & Science, New York University; Gilbert Merkx, Vice Provost, International Affairs, Duke University; Wendy Doniger, University of Chicago; Ebrima Sall, Director of Research, Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa; Thomas Keenan, Associate Professor of Comparative Literature & Director, Human Rights Project, Bard College; Srinivas Aravamudan, Professor of English & Director, Franklin Humanities Institute, Duke University; Jacqueline Bhabha, Chair, Scholars at Risk Network Board of Advisors & Executive Director, University Committee on Human Rights Studies, Harvard University; Beth Greenwood, Director, International Programs, University of California at Davis; Susan Gzesh, Director, Human Rights Program, the University of Chicago; Irving Epstein, Professor of Education, Illinois Wesleyan University; and Jan Pilarski, Director, Social Justice Studies Program, Saint Mary's College.

Preceding the conference, on April 28th from 1:30 to 5:00 p.m. is the biennial meeting of the Scholars at Risk Network. Any university or college interested in assisting threatened scholars is urged to send a representative to the meeting of Network members. For more information about the meeting and Scholars at Risk, contact Carla Stuart at 1-212-998-2179 or visit: http://scholarsatrisk.nyu.edu.

Scholars at Risk members partner with the IIE Scholar Rescue Fund by hosting Fund fellowship recipients on their campuses. The Fund provides matching-sum fellowships allowing threatened scholars to escape danger and to continue their work through temporary visits to host universities in any safe country. Established in 2002, the Fund already has awarded more than US $1 million to help threatened scholars from 34 countries, supporting temporary visits to host universities in 15 countries. For more information about the Scholar Rescue Fund, visit http://www.iie.org/SRF or call 1-212-984-5472.

The Scholars at Risk meeting and conference are co-sponsored by the Open Society Institute. Established in 1993 as part of the Soros foundations network, OSI promotes the development and maintenance of open societies around the world by supporting an array of activities dealing with educational, social, legal, and health care reform, and by encouraging alternative approaches to complex and controversial issues. For more information about OSI, visit: http://www.soros.org or contact 1-212-548-0600.

Scholars at Risk gratefully acknowledges the support of New York University's Office of the Provost, as well as the collaboration of the NYU Graduate School of Arts and Science and the NYU School of Law Center for Human Rights & Global Justice.

The conference will be held on April 29, 2005, 9:00-5:30 p.m. at New York University's Hemmerdinger Hall, ground floor of the Silver Center, 100 Washington Square East, New York, NY, USA. Pre-registration is required. Media or other inquiries should be sent to Carla Stuart at or by calling 1-212-998-2179. The complete program, including schedules, a complete list of speakers and directions is available at http://scholarsatrisk.nyu.edu/conference.html.

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