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. Archived media reviews are available athttp://scholarsatrisk.nyu.edu/
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Aditya calls on suspended professor, threatens protest
The Times of India, 01/18
MUMBAI: A day after the governor asked Mumbai University vice-chancellor Rajan Welukar to resolve the situation arising due to the suspension of econometrics professor Neeraj Hatekar in an "amicable manner", Yuva Sena head Aditya Thackeray on Friday called on Hatekar at his residence. Read more
China's detention of Uighur professor Ilham Tohti worries U.S.
Julie Makinen, The Los Angeles Times, 01/17
BEIJING -- The U.S. government and human rights activists are voicing concern about the detention of a professor who has been an outspoken advocate for China’s Uighur minority group. Ilham Tohti’s home in Beijing was ransacked Wednesday afternoon by more than 20 police officers who seized computers, phones, credit cards and documents and took him into custody, his wife, Guzaili Nu’er, said by phoneFriday. Read more
UM denies disciplining Chou for social activism
Macau Daily Times, 01/17
The University of Macau (UM) has issued a statement insisting that it “upholds academic freedom and encourages the pursuit of academic excellence” and has not launched disciplinary procedures against any of its members because of their political viewpoints. Read more
'Politically useful' science is no use for democracy
Prateek Buch, The Telegraph, 01/16
Just how independent is independent research into government policy? It emerged last week that the Home Office may have pressured researchers at the University of Sheffield to delay publication of a study on the effects of minimum alcohol pricing. Dr Sarah Wollaston MP isn’t amused that the academics agreed to the Home Office request, suggesting it hindered discussion of the evidence. Read more
Uni under fire over Hamas meeting
Christian Kerr, The Australian, 01/16
SYDNEY University is again under fire over staff conduct, in the wake of a meeting between emeritus professor Stuart Rees and Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal in Doha last month. Professor Rees is director of the Sydney Peace Foundation, the group behind the Sydney Peace Prize, part of the university's Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies and a prominent supporter of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. Read more
South Sudan Closes Universities Amid Security Concerns
Sudan Tribune, 01/15
Juba — South Sudan has temporarily suspended university studies due to ongoing conflict in the country. Lecturers were informed through an administrative circular issued by the higher education council. Read more
Georgetown Backs Academic Freedom of Adjunct Who Alluded to Assassinating Obama
Nick DeSantis, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 01/15
Georgetown University is supporting the academic freedom of an adjunct faculty member in its School of Foreign Service who, in recent blog posts, has written indirectly about assassinating President Obama, according to The Hoya, Georgetown’s student newspaper. Read more
Protecting Faculty Records
Colleen Flaherty, Inside Higher Ed, 01/14
Saying that “frivolous” open records requests for faculty members’ emails and other communications have a potential chilling effect on academic freedom, a joint faculty-administrative body at the University of California at Los Angeles has drafted a first-of-its-kind statement to protect the confidentiality of frank, collaborative exchanges among scholars discussing their research. Read more
Another Approach
Elizabeth Redden, Inside Higher Ed, 01/14
Amid the clamor over the American Studies Association’s resolution endorsing the boycott of Israeli universities, the Middle East Studies Association has been more or less silent. The association’s Committee on Academic Freedom last weighed in on the subject of academics boycotts in 2005, issuing a letter opposing them after Britain’s Association of University Teachers approved a resolution to cut off academic cooperation with Haifa and Bar-Ilan Universities. Read more
Respected Russian University Feels Kremlin’s Scrutiny
Anna Nemtsova, The Chronicle Of Higher Education, 01/12
MOSCOW — The Kremlin appears to be in a forgiving mood. Russia recently pardoned the former oil baron turned activist Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky and other prominent critics of President Vladimir V. Putin in a move widely seen as an attempt to mollify international criticism on the eve of the Winter Olympics in Sochi. Read more
The Times of India, 01/18
MUMBAI: A day after the governor asked Mumbai University vice-chancellor Rajan Welukar to resolve the situation arising due to the suspension of econometrics professor Neeraj Hatekar in an "amicable manner", Yuva Sena head Aditya Thackeray on Friday called on Hatekar at his residence. Read more
China's detention of Uighur professor Ilham Tohti worries U.S.
Julie Makinen, The Los Angeles Times, 01/17
BEIJING -- The U.S. government and human rights activists are voicing concern about the detention of a professor who has been an outspoken advocate for China’s Uighur minority group. Ilham Tohti’s home in Beijing was ransacked Wednesday afternoon by more than 20 police officers who seized computers, phones, credit cards and documents and took him into custody, his wife, Guzaili Nu’er, said by phoneFriday. Read more
UM denies disciplining Chou for social activism
Macau Daily Times, 01/17
The University of Macau (UM) has issued a statement insisting that it “upholds academic freedom and encourages the pursuit of academic excellence” and has not launched disciplinary procedures against any of its members because of their political viewpoints. Read more
'Politically useful' science is no use for democracy
Prateek Buch, The Telegraph, 01/16
Just how independent is independent research into government policy? It emerged last week that the Home Office may have pressured researchers at the University of Sheffield to delay publication of a study on the effects of minimum alcohol pricing. Dr Sarah Wollaston MP isn’t amused that the academics agreed to the Home Office request, suggesting it hindered discussion of the evidence. Read more
Uni under fire over Hamas meeting
Christian Kerr, The Australian, 01/16
SYDNEY University is again under fire over staff conduct, in the wake of a meeting between emeritus professor Stuart Rees and Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal in Doha last month. Professor Rees is director of the Sydney Peace Foundation, the group behind the Sydney Peace Prize, part of the university's Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies and a prominent supporter of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement. Read more
South Sudan Closes Universities Amid Security Concerns
Sudan Tribune, 01/15
Juba — South Sudan has temporarily suspended university studies due to ongoing conflict in the country. Lecturers were informed through an administrative circular issued by the higher education council. Read more
Georgetown Backs Academic Freedom of Adjunct Who Alluded to Assassinating Obama
Nick DeSantis, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 01/15
Georgetown University is supporting the academic freedom of an adjunct faculty member in its School of Foreign Service who, in recent blog posts, has written indirectly about assassinating President Obama, according to The Hoya, Georgetown’s student newspaper. Read more
Protecting Faculty Records
Colleen Flaherty, Inside Higher Ed, 01/14
Saying that “frivolous” open records requests for faculty members’ emails and other communications have a potential chilling effect on academic freedom, a joint faculty-administrative body at the University of California at Los Angeles has drafted a first-of-its-kind statement to protect the confidentiality of frank, collaborative exchanges among scholars discussing their research. Read more
Another Approach
Elizabeth Redden, Inside Higher Ed, 01/14
Amid the clamor over the American Studies Association’s resolution endorsing the boycott of Israeli universities, the Middle East Studies Association has been more or less silent. The association’s Committee on Academic Freedom last weighed in on the subject of academics boycotts in 2005, issuing a letter opposing them after Britain’s Association of University Teachers approved a resolution to cut off academic cooperation with Haifa and Bar-Ilan Universities. Read more
Respected Russian University Feels Kremlin’s Scrutiny
Anna Nemtsova, The Chronicle Of Higher Education, 01/12
MOSCOW — The Kremlin appears to be in a forgiving mood. Russia recently pardoned the former oil baron turned activist Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky and other prominent critics of President Vladimir V. Putin in a move widely seen as an attempt to mollify international criticism on the eve of the Winter Olympics in Sochi. Read more
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