AAAS Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights and Law Program

Human Rights Day Event:
Academic Freedom in Iraq

Wednesday, 8 December 2004

Panel Discussion 3:00pm-5:00pm

Reception honoring
Scholars at Risk Network and the IIE Scholar Rescue Fund
immediately to follow, 5:00pm-7:00pm

Each year, the AAAS Science and Human Rights Program organizes a special event to observe Human Rights Day, the anniversary of the adoption by the United Nations General Assembly of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This event is an opportunity to discuss the relevance of science to human rights and to honor an individual or an organization that has made a significant contribution to human rights within the scientific community.

Academic Freedom in Iraq: Panel Discussion (3pm-5pm)

This year’s events will highlight a critical issue for the scientific community—academic freedom. The day will begin with a panel discussion about the current situation of academic freedom in Iraq and the safety of the Iraqi scientific and academic community. Virtually every Iraqi institution of higher education is at risk. Universities, colleges and research institutions operate under severe political duress and without adequate resources, transparent funding mechanisms, or the civil and legal protections needed to nurture and promote a vibrant intellectual climate and civil society.

Panel:

Between Saddam and the American Occupation: Iraq's Academic Community Struggles for Autonomy
Keith D. Watenpaugh, Associate Director Center for Peace and Global Studies and Assistant Professor Eastern Mediterranean and Islamic History, Le Moyne College

How Human Rights can be Integrated into Curriculum Development in Iraq
Imad Harb, Program Officer, Iraq Education Program at the United States Institute of Peace

Challenges to Assisting Iraqi Scholars at Risk
Rob Quinn, Director of Scholars at Risk Network and IIE Scholar Rescue Fund

The Scientific Sector in Iraq Today
Dr. Karim Altaii, Associate Professor, James Madison University

Moderator: Roger Bowen, General Secretary, American Association of University Professors

Reception Honoring Scholars at Risk Network and the IIE Scholar Rescue Fund (5pm-7pm)

The panel discussion will be followed by a reception to honor the outstanding work of the Scholars at Risk Network and the IIE Scholar Rescue Fund. The Scholars at Risk Network (SAR) is an international network of universities and colleges working to promote academic freedom and to defend the human rights of scholars worldwide. SAR works to arrange short-term, emergency visits to Network-member institutions in the US and abroad for scholars who suffer because of their work, prominence, or exercise of their basic human rights. The IIE Scholar Rescue Fund provides matching-sum fellowships to support such visits. Since 2002 the Fund has provided more than $600,000 to rescue over 60 scholars from 31 different countries, enabling them to continue their teaching and research and, essentially, saving their academic work.

Rob Quinn, the Director of Scholars at Risk and the IIE Scholar Rescue Fund, will be present at the reception to discuss the work of SAR and to introduce the community to some of their current scholars. Current scholar Dr. Tilahun Woldemichael, Professor of Physics, will also be speaking briefly at the reception.

This event is open to the public. Please forward this invite on to any interested parties.

Resources:

Keith Watenpaugh, “Between Saddam and the American Occupation: Iraq’s Academic Community Struggles for Autonomy,” Academe (September-October 2004), pp. 18-24

Opening the Doors: Intellectual Life and Academic Conditions in Post-War Baghdad

AAAS CEO Alan Leshner in the Boston Globe, "Saving science in Iraq"

AAAS Interview with Alexander Deghan about state of science in Iraq

Science Magazine article: “Coalition Throws 11th-Hour Lifeline to Iraqi Weaponeers” by Richard Stone

International Standards and Resources on Academic Freedom (Scholars at Risk)

The Academic Freedom Initiative of Human Rights Watch

Committee for Academic Freedom on the Middle East and North Africa (CAFMENA)

Academic freedom: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Network for Education and Academic Rights (NEAR)

United Nations Economic, Social, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

Letter from Baghdad: Tales from a Broken Lab

Panel at AAAS Says Iraq Scholars and Students Need Help from U.S. Counterparts (AAAS News Archive)

To see past Human Rights Day events, click here.

(site updated 12/03/2004)