Academic Freedom Media Review: February 4-10, 2022

Posted: 12-02-2022 02:26 | Views: 581

February 4 - 10, 2022

Scholars at Risk monitors reports of threats to academic freedom and higher education communities worldwide, including media articles, blogs, opinion pieces and other announcements. Unless otherwise indicated (such as in articles written by SAR), the language and views contained in the search results reflect those of the originating author and/or publication and do not necessarily represent the views of Scholars at Risk or its members, affiliates, board or staff. An archive of the Media Review is available on our website.

AFGHANISTAN: Taliban urges Afghan professors in exile to return to country

Najibullah Lalzoy, The Khaama Press News Agency, 2/9

Afghanistan’s Taliban-run Ministry of Higher Education asked public university professors, many of whom left the country following the takeover by the Taliban, to return to the country to teach. 229 professors from Afghanistan's top three universities fled the country following the Taliban’s takeover.

CANADA / DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO: Interview / Valentin Migabo

Canadian Association of University Teachers, February 2022

The Canadian Association of University Teachers interviews SAR scholar Valentin Migabo, a political scientist from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who is completing his research on Africa's Great Lakes region at Canada's Université du Québec à Montréal.

CANADA: Supporting scholars at risk

Canadian Association of University Teachers, February 2022

The Canadian Association of University Teachers discusses pathways to Canada for academics around the world who are at risk of violence, including placement of at-risk scholars by Scholars at Risk. There are currently 25 universities that makeup SAR’s Canadian chapter.

UNITED STATES: A Lawsuit Accuses Harvard of Ignoring Sexual Harassment by a Professor

Anemona Hartocollis, The New York Times, 2/8

Three female graduate students filed a lawsuit against Harvard University, accusing the university of ignoring allegations of sexual harassment from Prof. Dr. John Comaroff, a respected anthropologist and an expert on South Africa, and allowing him to intimidate students by threatening their academic careers if they reported him.

UNITED STATES: ‘I Swore an Oath’: Behind a U. of Florida Professor’s Plea to Testify Against the State

Jack Stripling and Emma Pettit, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 2/8

According to emails obtained by The Chronicle, one of the University of Florida professors seeking permission, and later barred from, testifying in a voting-rights case had proposed to Dean David E. Richardson of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences that he take unpaid leave from the university during the duration of his participation in the case.

PALESTINE (OPT) / ISRAEL: Letter protesting invasion of Birzeit University and assault on students

Committee on Academic Freedom, Middle East Studies Association, 2/8

The Middle East Studies Association’s Committee on Academic Freedom issued a letter to Israeli government and military officials protesting the Israeli military’s assault on Palestine’s Birzeit University campus on January 10, 2022.

NICARAGUA: Nicaragua to Take Over Six Universities Seen as Critical of Ortega

Ismael Lopez, Reuters via US News, 2/7

Nicaraguan lawmakers loyal to President Daniel Ortega on Monday passed legislation allowing the state to take over six universities the government effectively shut down last week, in a move critics say entrenches authoritarianism.

UNITED STATES / CHINA: George Washington U.’s President Called the Posters ‘Offensive.’ Now He Says They’re Protected Speech.

Katherine Mangan, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 2/7

A free-speech debate was sparked at George Washington University after unknown persons hung posters across campus satirizing the 2022 Winter Olympic Games by calling attention to Chinese government human-rights abuses. The university’s interim president, Mark S. Wrighton, initially called the posters offensive but reversed course after being accused of censorship.

AFGHANISTAN: Professor steps down after being accused of blasphemy

Najibullah Lalzoy, The Khaama Press News Agency, 2/5

Yaqub Yasna, a professor at the Alberoni University, has stepped down from his position after professors at the university accused him of blasphemy. The professor posted on Facebook that this was in response to his criticism of ethnic politics in Afghanistan.

TURKEY: Appointed rector dismisses one more academic from Boğaziçi University

Bianet, 2/7

Boğaziçi University Rector Naci İnci, who was appointed to the position by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, dismissed Dr. Kaan Öztürk, a professor in the Department of Computer Engineering. Announcing his dismissal on Twitter, Öztürk stated that he was not ashamed of the rector’s decision “because not being liked by Naci İnci is a medal of honor.”

AFGHANISTAN: Some universities reopen, in others professors have fled

Shadi Khan Saif, University World News, 2/4

Afghan students returned to public universities in some Afghan provinces this week after almost a year of suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the takeover of the country by the Taliban. The Taliban announced that public universities in six provinces were open to women.

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