Scholars at Risk Academic Freedom Media Review, June 4 – 10, 2011

Posted on June 11, 2011 by MikeT

Scholars at Risk would like to draw attention to the killing of Dr. Maksud I. Sadikov, Rector of the Institute of Theology and International Relations in Russia. According to media reports Mr. Sadikov was shot to death in a car in Makhachkala, the capital of the Dagestan region, on Tuesday, June 7, 2011. The motives for this apparent assassination are not clear at this time but seem to relate to Dr. Sadikov’s efforts to promote moderate religious education in the region to counter terrorism and extremism in the Caucasus. Please see the following two articles for additional information relating to the killing of Dr. Sadikov:

Rector at Muslim University in Russia Is Shot to Death
Andrew E. Kramer, The New York Times, 6/7

Senior Dagestani Muslim Killed in a Hail of Bullets
Natalya Krainova, The Moscow Times, 6/8

Please find below a compilation of articles in the news media addressing academic freedom issues over the past week.

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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.

BC asks for Irish project secrecy
Kevin Cullen, Boston Globe, 6/9

Annual Report 2011 of the Network of Concerned Historians
Antoon De Baets, Network of Concerned Historians, 6/8

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Academic Freedom Media Review – April 16-22, 2011

Posted on April 25, 2011 by MikeT

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Malawi: Political Science Professor Talks About Blogging Academic Freedom
Victor Kaonga, Global Voices Online, 4/22

DUBAI: Scholar’s detention threatens UAE’s reputation
Brendan O’Malley, University World News, 4/21

New crackdown on Iraqi academic elite
NEAR, 4/21

Bahrain’s Crackdown on Protest Extends to Academe, With Interrogations, Firings and Expulsions
David L. Wheeler, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 4/21

Anti-Israel, Anti-Semitic or Both?
Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Ed, 4/21

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SAR Academic Freedom Media Review, April 9-15

Posted on April 18, 2011 by MikeT

Scholars at Risk calls for letters on behalf of Professor Nasser bin Ghaith of the UAE
Scholars at Risk, 4/15

12 Organizations Ask U. of Virginia to Safeguard Climate Researcher’s Academic Freedom
The Chronicle of Higher Education, 4/14

Hastings’ board pulls UC brand from rights meeting
Bob Egelko, The San Francisco Chronicle, 4/13

Top PEN Prize to Honor Nasrin Sotoudeh, Jailed Iranian Lawyer, Writer, Activist
PEN, 4/13

Iran: independent civil society organisations ignored over draft law on associations
Education International, 4/12

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Academic Freedom Media Review, February 5 – 11, 2011

Posted on February 13, 2011 by MikeT

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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Academic Freedom Media Review, January 15 – 21, 2011

Posted on January 24, 2011 by MikeT

Protecting academic freedom seen as key
Jimmy Walsh, Irish Times, 1/21

U.S. Bishops Begin 10-Year Review of ‘Ex Corde’
Beckie Supiano, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 1/21

Scholars at Risk calls for letters on behalf of Nasrin Sotoudeh, Iranian legal scholar sentenced to 11 years in prison
Scholars at Risk, 1/19

And freedom for all includes undergraduates
Bruce Macfarlane, The Australian, 1/19
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Academic Freedom Media Review, January 1-7 2011

Posted on January 9, 2011 by MikeT

This review is compiled by Scholars at Risk and I re-post it regularly. If you are not familiar with the organization. Please visit their site. SAR is a international network of universities and colleges that defends academic freedom and responds to attacks on scholars and teachers, often by rescuing them from their situation, at least until the situation has improved. Their site is an interesting source of information on the status of academic freedom around the globe. Here now, is the review.

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.

Students and lecturer remain in prison following presidential elections
NEAR, 1/7

Economists’ Group Forms Panel to Consider Ethical Standards
David Glenn, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 1/7

Proposed university changes labeled “outrageous”
Pamela Duncan, Irish Times, 1/7
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In Memory of Mohamed Arkoun

Posted on September 20, 2010 by MikeT

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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American Muslims Still Victims of 9-11

Posted on September 13, 2010 by MikeT

Media Matter for America reports:

On what is rapidly becoming a regular feature, Fox & Friends this morning continued their incessant attack on Islam. Co-host Alisyn Camerota this morning hosted anti-Islam blogger and founder of the ironically named Americans Against Hate organization Joe Kaufman to attack Muslim Family Day at Six Flags Great Adventure. Camerota called it “insensitive” that they would host the event on September 12, “just hours after the anniversary of the September 11th attacks,” and added “but what’s even more controversial are the allegations that the Muslim group organizing the event could have been involved in financing the September 11 terror attacks.” Kaufman went further, employing what is becoming a familiar phrase among anti-Muslim bloggers: “The fact that they’re having it on September 12th, I believe they are actually spitting in the face of Americans.”

This kind of criticism is disgusting! The event is being held on September 12 because that is the first weekend after Ramadan ends. The event celebrates the Eid el-Fitr or festival of the end of Ramadan, the most holy month in the Islamic calendar. The Muslim group organizing the even is the Islamic Circle of North America, established in 1968,

as a response to the growing need for a supportive Muslim community in North America. The organization initially focused on educating its growing membership about Islam, the goal being to adhere to Islamic values amongst a religiously diverse community.

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New York City, Murfreesboro, Tennessee and Islamophobia

Posted on August 30, 2010 by MikeT

This is the United States of America! Most of us realize that what makes our country great is not our military or economic power, but what we stand for, the principles laid out in our Declaration of Independence and made law in our Constitution. One of our most sacred principles, one which drew many of our ancestors to this place, is freedom of religion. And yet lately one group finds itself under attack purely because of their religion. It started with the argument over the so called Ground Zero Mosque, and the rhetoric over that has stoked the flames of something more dangerous, as exhibited by this story of an attack on the construction site of a mosque in the Nashville suburb of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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