The defence of academic and intellectual freedom lies at the heart of everything Scholars at Risk’s global network does. This month, SAR Carleton is supporting a number of initiatives dedicated to the support of research freedom everywhere.
On November 2 and 3, Carleton hosted the first annual Placement, Preservation and Perseverance: Afghan Scholars, Students and Activists Conference. The PPP initiative (as it is called) is funded by the government of Canada’s International Development Research Center (IDRC), Carleton University in collaboration with the University of British Columbia, and the Scholars at Risk network in Canada. It brought together Afghan scholars, activists and students to discuss the effects of the Taliban takeover on Afghanistan’s education sector and academic freedom, and explore better ways for Canada to help sustain and settle exiled Afghans researchers and activists.
Then, on November 20 and 21, SAR Carleton (with the generous support of SAR International, the Scholar Rescue Fund, and the MESA Global Academy), will be hosting an international gathering, titled Scholars at Risk Summit: Freedom to Think at the Carleton Dominion-Chalmers Centre. As its program states: “Attacks on academic freedom and higher education are frequent and pervasive, with wide-ranging—at times deadly—consequences for scholars and students. No country is immune. This summit will examine the full scope of global threats to academic freedom and their consequences, especially in terms of forced scholar migration, and will explore how best to defend academic freedom and to support scholars forced to flee their homelands.”
This is a free conference, and details can be found on a link to the Summit on the SAR Carleton mainpage.