Scholars Seeking Hosts

SAR scholars are at-risk higher education professionals who exemplify the pursuit of academic freedom, freedom of expression, and university values. If your institution is interested in hosting a SAR scholar, please email apply.scholarsatrisk@nyu.edu.

A Scholar of Political Science from Iran This scholar’s research focuses on the role of religion and identity in politics. He has authored several publications in English and Persian, including articles on the interplay between politics and religious fundamentalism and leading change in religious movements, among other topics. This scholar reports risk of arrest, violence, and intimidation due to the content of his work in Iran and seeks research opportunities in a safe location beginning August 2021. (Iran 766)

A Scholar of Business and Management from Turkey This scholar specializes in organizational behavior, in particular in the health and financial sector. He has several years of teaching and research experience at universities in Turkey, North America, and Africa. He is an active researcher who has authored several book chapters as well as regional and international peer-reviewed articles in his field, most recently on employee health and satisfaction. He reports facing arrest, harassment and loss of position in Turkey and seeks research and/or teaching opportunities in the United States beginning immediately. (Turkey 1252)

A Scholar of Mechanical Engineering from Syria This scholar specializes in robotics and digital manufacturing, and has published his research in local and international publications, as well as presented at academic conferences. His research interests include robotics and machines, configuration and control in robotics and geometrical and kinematical modeling. He has several years of lecturing experience in Syria, France and Switzerland. He faced threats to his life in Syria and seeks research and/ or teaching opportunities in a safe location beginning July 2021. (Syria 703) All Scholars Seeking Assistance »

Free To Think Podcast

Episode 2: ‘Generational Exit’ in South Sudan 

Free to Think talks with Peter Biar Ajak, scholar, civil society leader, and democracy advocate from South Sudan. As a child, Peter was one of the “Lost Boys” of Sudan displaced by the civil war and endured treacherous journeys to refugee camps. After earning degrees in international development and international studies from Harvard and Trinity College, Cambridge, he returned to South Sudan to assist in peacebuilding. His calls for “generational exit” –transitioning political power through free elections — quickly attracted a following among young people and threats from senior officials. He was arrested, and jailed for 18 months in the notorious Blue House prison. After international campaigns on his behalf, he was released in January 2020.

Episode 3: ‘At risk’ or in reserve?

Free to Think talks with Asli Vatansever, a labor sociologist and author of At the Margins of Academia: Exile, Precariousness, and Subjectivity, which examines misconceptions and structural inequities in academic labor markets around the world through the lens of scholars displaced from their home countries. Vatansever was among the thousands of scholars in Turkey and abroad who signed a January 2019 public “Peace Petition”demanding an end to fighting and renewed negotiations between Turkish forces and members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party. Vatansever, along with hundreds of other signatories, was dismissed from her post, banned from working, and forced to seek academic employment abroad.

Please send us your comments, questions, or suggestions for future episodes to scholarsatrisk@nyu.edu, or by tweeting us at @RobQ_SAR or @ScholarsAtRisk.

Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Audible, Amazon Music, or Stitcher.

UPR Submissions on Thailand and Hungary

In late March, Scholars at Risk submitted reports to the Third Cycle of the United Nations' Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Thailand and Hungary. The UPR process serves as an opportunity to review the human rights records of UN member states and address any violations that occur, including those involving the internationally protected right to academic freedom.

Prepared in collaboration with the Ghent University Human Rights Centre Legal Clinic, SAR's UPR submission for Hungary expresses concerns over severe and escalating government pressures, including: the closure of Central European University’s (CEU) main campus in Budapest; the government's assumption of control over several institutions; and the elimination of gender studies programs at Hungarian universities. SAR's recommendations to UN member states include calling on Hungary to protect institutional autonomy and respect the principles of non-discrimination in applying laws on higher education.

Prepared in collaboration with the University of Turin International Human Rights Legal Clinic, SAR's UPR submission for Thailand expresses concerns over the immense strain on academic freedom including arrests, prosecutions (especially under the country's lèse majesté law), surveillance, and other coercive actions by state authorities punishing and restricting academic expression and inquiry. SAR's recommendations to UN member states include calling on Thailand to release student activists, repeal the lèse majesté law, and discontinue policies targeting student activists.

Egypt: Release Master’s Student Ahmed Samir Santawy!

Join SAR in calling on Egyptian authorities to immediately release master’s student Ahmed Samir Santawy. An Egyptian citizen and a graduate student at Central European University, Mr. Santawy has been wrongfully detained since February 1, 2021 on charges of “membership in a terrorist group,” “spreading false news,” and “using a social media account to spread false news.” The charges against him are based on an alleged social media post critical of the government, a posting he denies, and an investigation by the National Security Agency.

SAR calls on the international higher education community to demand Mr. Santawy’s immediate release and the release of all wrongfully imprisoned scholars in Egypt.

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Academic Freedom and Democracy in South Asia: Context, Trends and Challenges

On May 4, 2021, Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences, in cooperation with Scholars at Risk, invites you to Academic Freedom and Democracy in South Asia: Context, Trends and Challenges, a Virtual Speaker Series with Dr. Mubashar Hasan, an Adjunct Fellow with the Humanitarian and Development Research Initiative at Western Sydney University in Australia. The lecture will look at the history and development of academic freedom and democracy in today’s Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India, taking in the grim backdrop of rising authoritarianism, nationalism, and religious radicalism. We encourage you to share this invitation with any interested faculty, students, or staff at your institution.

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