Category Archives: Africa

Academic Freedom Media Review, February 5 – 11, 2011

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The Scholars at Risk media review seeks to raise awareness about academic freedom issues in the news. Subscription information and archived media reviews are available at here. The views and opinions expressed in these articles are not necessarily those of Scholars at Risk.

Universities must safeguard intellectual vitality
Andreas Hess, Irish Times, 2/10

Presidential duress: fears for Belarusian academic freedom
Colin Graham, Times Higher Education, 2/10

Travel Ban Extends to Family
Mihray Abdilim and Joshua Lipes, Radio Free Asia, 2/10

Faculty Group at U. of Puerto Rico Joins Students on Strike
The Chronicle of Higher Education, 2/10

The Beck-Piven Controversy
Peter Wood, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 2/10

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Egypt Decides! Let’s Stand Back for a While

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Saturday, 12 February 2011, Day 1 Freedom - Victory Tahrir Square, Photo by Darla Hueske, Creative Commons license, Some rights reserved

These are exciting times! The citizens revolution in Tunisia started a tidal wave of pro-democracy protests across the Arab world, and the resignation of Hosni Mubarak form the Presidency in Egypt proves there is no stopping it.

Fortunately, this wave has not caused the death and destruction tidal waves usually do, because it is the people themselves who are the wave, and it is the elite who are being swept away, not in a bloody coup, but through real people power. Final costs have yet to be assessed. People were jailed and others killed, but violence and destruction to property have been minimal. The police were brutal and ruthless and far too many were killed, but protests continued and the police disappeared quickly. After that, the one significant effort of Mubarak loyalist to crack heads, backfired terribly.

Most Americans are excited by this wave of democracy and have an innate tendency to support it. Others got very nervous when the wave hit Egypt. What happens if the Muslim brotherhood takes over? There are even voices who get far to much airplay in the media and too much ink in the press who say that people in the region are incapable of self governance and need strong arm leadership. The most looney voice has to be Glenn Beck who fears Mubarak’s fall will open the door to a Islamist Caliphate that will spread until it meets and joins forces with a Chinese-led “red” wave on a quest for world domination.
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Academic Freedom Media Review, January 22-28

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The Scholars at Risk media review seeks to raise awareness about academic freedom issues in the news. Subscription information and archived media reviews are available here. The views and opinions expressed in these articles are not necessarily those of Scholars at Risk.

Purge or Quality Control?
Dan Berrett, Inside Higher Ed, 1/28

University dispute causes a crisis of credibility /
Shirley Brooks, Mail and Guardian, 1/28

Iraqi Academics Come Together to Debate Future of Higher-Education System
Ursula Lindsey, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 1/28

Arab Scholars, Politicians and Activists Issue Appeal for Human Rights and Democracy in the Arab World
Reuters, 1/27

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TV News and Reporting from Egypt

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Dear Media,

Please stop marveling at how anything is happening in Egypt even though the internet is shut down and people can’t get on Twitter or Facebook.  You do realize that there were popular revolts before social media, don’t you?  In the latter half of the 20th century we had the Prague Spring in 1968, the Soweto uprising in 1976, the Paris riots in 1968, and even Tiananmen Square in 89. How do you think people coordinated the labor demonstrations of the 30s, the anti-colonial revolts of the developing world in the decades following World War II.  What about the French Revolution in 1789?  OMG?  How did they get anything done.  They didn’t even have land lines!

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World AIDS Day 2010

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Today is World AIDS Day, an opportunity to raise awareness of the disease, commemorate those who have passed on, to celebrate victories such as increased access to treatment and prevention services, and to push for further advances in all these areas.   The theme is Universal Access and Human Rights, and it is being marked by a Light for Rights Campaign.

(The) campaign strives to underscore this year’s focus on HIV and human rights by encouraging people in cities around the world to dim the lights on key landmarks to remember the devastating affect AIDS has had on us all, and to turn back on the lights to illuminate the fundamental rights we all share.

One website, The Body, an online HIV/AIDS Resource, sponsored a contest, challenging folks to create and submit public service announcements.  The submissions can be seen here.
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Academic Freedom Media Review, November 6-12

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Compiled by Scholars at Risk

The Scholars at Risk media review seeks to raise awareness about academic freedom issues in the news. Subscription information and archived media reviews are available here. The views and opinions expressed in these articles are not necessarily those of Scholars at Risk.

Kazakh Government Wants Scientists Abroad To Return Home
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 11/12

Nasrin Sotoudeh Still on Hunger Strike; Allows Herself Water
International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, 11/11

Prominent Human Rights Attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh Must be Released
Amnesty International

London Tuition Hike Protests Turn Violent
Sarah Lyall, The New York Times, 11/10
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Academic Freedom Media Review, October 23-29, 2010

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The Scholars at Risk media review seeks to raise awareness about academic freedom issues in the news. Subscription information and archived media reviews are available here. The views and opinions expressed in these articles are not necessarily those of Scholars at Risk.

Warning on Bologna
Hannah Fearn, Inside Higher Ed, 10/29

Iranian Scholar Accused of Acting against National Security
Network for Education and Academic Rights (NEAR), 10/28

Students say: new report recommending specialised universities would spell disaster for accessible education and academic choice
CNW, 10/27

Scholars at Risk calls for letters on behalf of Svyatoslav Bobyshev and Yevgeny Afanasyev, Russian scholars held in pretrial detention since March
Scholars at Risk, 10/26

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Academic Freedom Media Review

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October 16 – 22, 2010
Compiled by Scholars at Risk

The Scholars at Risk media review seeks to raise awareness about academic freedom issues in the news. Subscription information and archived media reviews are available at here. The views and opinions expressed in these articles are not necessarily those of Scholars at Risk.

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Tibetans Protest China’s Plan to Curb Language
Edward Wong, The New York Times, 10/22

Jailed Iranian Scholar Denies Charges in Court
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 10/21

Is affirmative action for men the answer to enrollment woes?
Carolyn Abraham and Kate Hammer, The Globe and Mail, 10/21

Appeals Court Hears Arguments in Ward Churchill’s Bid to Get His University Job Back
The Chronicle of Higher Education, 10/21

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Academic Freedom Media Review, September 25-October 1, 2010

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Compiled by the Scholars at Risk Network

The Scholars at Risk media review seeks to raise awareness about academic freedom issues in the news. Subscription information and archived media reviews are available here. The views and opinions expressed in these articles are not necessarily those of Scholars at Risk.

Scholars at Risk calls for letters on behalf of detained Iranian lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh
Scholars at Risk, 10/01

Forskerkonkurranse i videregående skole (in Norwegian)
University of Oslo (UiO), Rector’s Blog, 10/1

University Transparency Bill Vetoed in California
Inside Higher Ed, 10/1

Vietnam Putting Professor on Trial for Online Dissent
Patrick Goodenough, CNS News, 9/30

Low grades for the party: The Communist Party’s grip is holding back the country’s best and brightest
The Economist, 9/30
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In Memory of Mohamed Arkoun

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Few of Arkoun's Books are available in translation, but this is on Amazon.

Mohamed Arkoun, a great philosopher and scholar, particularly on the role of Islam in the development of Maghrebi society and on the relationship of Islam and the West, died Tuesday September 14 in Paris and was buried the following Friday, September 17 in Achouhada cemetery in Casablanca. He was 82 years old. In Robert Altman’s cinema adaptation of Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion, the angel of death whispers to a woman weeping over the discovery that a loved one has died peacefully, “The death of an old man is not a tragedy.”

That struck me as fundamentally true. But I thought to myself that it doesn’t make it less painful to those close to him. And while it may not be a tragedy, it is certainly still a loss, especially when the man is a figure of the stature of Mohamed Arkoun. I remember reading his writing when researching my dissertation, and it returned to my mind in the weeks and months after 9-11. It comes to mind again now, as we see nasty rhetoric against heating up again in this country.
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