Academic Freedom Review, July 3-9

Scholars at Risk Academic Freedom Media Review
July 3 – 9, 2010

News Alert: Reports suggest release from prison of Dr. Igor Sutyagin
Scholars at Risk, 7/9

ACLU accused UW police of spying on action group
Casey McNerthney, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 7/9

Oil-crisis research casts USF into political waters
Lindsay Peterson, Tampa Bay Online, 7/9

Adjunct Who Taught Catholicism at U. of Illinois Says Job Loss Violated Academic Freedom
The Chronicle of Higher Education, 7/9
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Academic Freedom Media Review, June 12-18

scholarsatrisk.nyuAcademic Freedom Media Review
June 12 – 18, 2010
Compiled by Scholars at Risk

Students Gain After Strike in Puerto Rico
Damien Cave, The New York Times, 6/17

Irvine Responds to Heckling Incident
Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed, 6/15

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Academic Freedom Media Review, June 5-11

Academic Freedom Media Review
June 5 – 11, 2010
Compiled by Scholars at Risk
 
China defends internet censorship
Michael Bristow, BBC News, 6/10
 
Marquette Settles With Woman Whose Job Offer Was Revoked /
Inside Higher Ed, 6/10

Paper on Psychopaths, Delayed by Legal Threat, Finally Published /
John Travis, Science, 6/10
 
Faith and Freedom
Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed, 6/9
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Google Doodles: Umm Kulthum, Jan Amos Komensky and Others You Never Saw.

Yesterday was the birthday of the great Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum, at least as far as records in her home province indicate.  The 30th of December is also cited sometimes, but Google took notice yesterday and marked the occasion with a Google Doodle on the Egyptian version of their site.  Given her significance in Egyptian culture, indeed Arab culture as a whole, the tribute is appropriate.  Indeed, she probably ranks among the best known and most loved singers the world has ever know.

I dare say, however, that few in America that are not of Arab descent have ever heard of Umm Kulthum.  I certainly hadn’t until I was introduced to her by Middle Eastern television. To me that begs a question.  Google Doodles are a learning opportunity, as the are accompanied by links to whatever the image represents.  Of course Google wins points my honoring this great diva in Egypt and it also does its part in keeping her memory alive for a younger generation that, like young people all over the world, is becoming used to shorter pop songs, accompanied by slick video images.

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Global Connections and Exchange Program Combines Technology and In-Person Exchanges

Midlothian High School Exchange

Midlothian High School students planted trees in honor of their guests. | photo courtesy of Jamie Schlais Barnes

Here’s an interesting item from Midlothian Exchange, a local paper in Midlothian, in Chesterfield County, Virginia and a part of the Richmond Metropolitan Area.

Two weeks ago, three men walked into Midlothian High School looking for a better understanding of American culture. Ten days later, they left having changed their own perceptions of U.S. citizens and their students’ perceptions of Arabic culture. Their challenge and that of the students at Midlothian High School is to continue spreading what they learned.

Abdulwahab Albaadani, a teacher at Ibn Majed in Sanaa, Yemen, Amine Slimani, a teacher from the Secondary School of Nedroma in Nedroma, Algeria and his pupil, Mohamed Belmeliami, traveled to the U.S. as a culmination of nearly a year’s worth of video conferencing, cultural lessons, and web logging with social studies classes at Midlothian High School…

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Comparing Global Medias

Today, via Geeky Mom Laura Blankenship, I discovered an article in TechCrunch, about a site that lines up the front page of CNN or other news sites with those of Al Jazeera, France 24, BBC, NPR, or several others, so that visitors may compare for themselves the differences between the stories covered, from which perspectives, to what degree of detail and whether or not it is through first hand reporting or some other source. Unfortunately, CNN seldom compares favorably, hence the URL for the site, http://wtfcnn.com/.

Sadly, the disaster which is cable news in this country is, in large part, media giving the people what they want and not, as some would believe, some vast elitist conspiracy to keep the masses hypnotized by mindless infotainment so they are distracted which they go about undermining the foundation of our society. If you need evidence of that, compare an hour of the domestic feed of CNN in the US to an hour of the feed on CNN International. The network caters to its international audience not just with an hour of news the focuses on international subjects, but with broadcasts that are more serious in tone, and that devote much less time to entertainment and puff pieces.
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Look what I found! An article in Al-Shuruq, November 2003

Al-Shuruq November 2003

I happened to find this on my hard drive the other day. It is an article in Arabic, that was written about NITLE’s Al-Musharaka Initiative and published in the news magazine Al-Shuruq. I was interviewed for this when we my colleague Doug Davis and I were in Paris for a mini-conference we did with the American University of Paris and the Institut du Monde Arabe. It was a pleasure to work with both organizations, but I am especially grateful to Celeste Schenck, now President at AUP, whose brainchild the event was, and Susan MacKay, her assistant, who took care of the logistics.
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Articles like this made me very proud because the showed how important the work we were doing was seen by people in the region. So here it is.

Academic Freedom Media Review


Academic Freedom Media Review
January 23 – 29, 2010
Compiled by Scholars at Risk

Censorship Charges at Los Angeles City College
Inside Higher Ed, 1/28

Guns on Campus (for Professors Only)
Inside Higher Ed, 1/27

Israeli Students Protest Exam That Equates Homosexuality With a ‘Defect’
The Chronicle for Higher Education, 1/27

New Online Journal From AAUP Will Focus on Academic Freedom
Jennifer Howard, The Chronicle for Higher Education, 1/26
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Scholars at Risk Academic Freedom Media Review

Academic Freedom Media Review
January 16 – 22, 2010

Compiled by Scholars at Risk

Controversial Visa Bans Lifted
Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed, 1/21

Free speech within reason
Constantine Sandis, The Times Higher Eductaion, 1/21

Scheme aims to help rebuild Iraqi academy through UK partnerships
John Morgan, The Times Higher Education, 1/21
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Scholars at Risk Academic Freedom Review

January 8 – 15, 2010
Compiled by Scholars at Risk

(Expand the post for clickable links)

Iran arrests father of U.S. think tank scholar
Laura Rozen, Politico, 1/14

When Tenure Means Nothing
Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed, 1/14

Academy’s freedoms threatened as libel law lands scholars in dock
Zoe Corbyn, Times Higher Education, 1/14

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