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Academic Risks and International Crisis: A Tribute to Joe Cox SRHE Conference 2016

Explore challenges faced by scholars at risk, focusing on cases from Syria and Iran, and discuss effectiveness measures to support academics in danger zones.

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Academic Risks and International Crisis: A Tribute to Joe Cox SRHE Conference 2016

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  1. SRHE Conference 2016 Ahmad Abd RabuhOmid Shams PhD Candidate PhD Candidate Operations & System Mgmt. International Law

  2. A tribute to Joe Cox …

  3. SRHE Conference 30th June 2016Access, Retention and Success in HE Outline • Introduction • Why in Risk? • What is the nature of the program? • What are the challenges? • About Scholars at Risk • Case 1 • About Amnesty International • Case 2 • Effectiveness & Measures • Conclusion & Recommendation

  4. Introduction Why in Risk? Political Views Defection War Ethnic Background The Nature of the program: • Academic Parameters • Humanitarian Parameters • Motives

  5. Challenges

  6. About Scholars At Risk

  7. Case 1 Name: Ahmad Abd Rabuh Nationality: Syrian Education: • 2006: BSc Economics – Damascus Univ. • 2016: MBA with concentration on Buss. Analytics – Qatar Univ. • Currently: PhD in Operations & System Mgmt. – Univ. of Portsmouth

  8. Case 1 The War in Syria 1978 2001 1967 1983 2011 2013 2016 The president’s hometown • In 2013, I joined the MBA program in Qatar University • My father went on demonstrations and appeared in several newspapers talking about the massacres committed by the Syrian government. • Syrian army broke into our house and my father’s family house. • Arrested my auntie Taghreed and her son, Mohamad. He was killed under torturing. • In 2016, graduated with MBA and had to find a job within 3 months or get deported • I was lucky to contact SAR and get in touch with University of Portsmouth. In 2001, I joined Damascus University and completed my BSc in Economics in 2006 In 1978, my parents immigrated to Qatar after racism started to get more noticeable. • In 2011 and as demonstrations uprose, I went back to Gulf area and worked in many companies. • Visa issues In 1967, Golan Heights were suggested to have been traded by the then-minister of defence, Hafiz Al-Assad, in an exchange of backing up his presidency overrule. In 1983, I was born in Doha. The Capital Golan Heights

  9. Case 2 CULTURAL REVOLUTION in Iran: Cultural Revolutionary Headquarters was founded in 1980. All universities were shut down for three years (1980-1983) The project of Islamization of universities and censoring foreign influences was started. At least 700 university professors were expelled. Thousands of academics left the country after Cultural Revolution.

  10. Case 2 Chain Murders of Iran 1983: 33 members of Iranian Writers Association in Exile were assassinated around the world. 1988- 1998: A series of murders and disappearances of Iranian writers, academics and intellectuals 1994-1998: At least 10 writers and activist were brutally murdered. 1998: Intelligence ministry officially admitted the involvement of its operatives in murders. 1998: Saeed Emami, the deputy official of intelligence ministry was arrested as the mastermind 1998: Saeed Emami committed suicide in prison and the case was closed.

  11. Case 2 • Underground Publishers in Iran: • Underground books are printed and secretly sold in bookstores and universities in Iran • More than 1000 online libraries publish Iranian underground books for free. • Hundreds of online magazines publish articles which cannot be published in mainstream media.

  12. Case 2 Censoring Humanities and Social sciences: Following unrests over 2009 election in Iran, new wave of pressure on academics began. Supreme leader of Iran: Humanities must be reviewed and cleansed of western ideas. 2010: The expansion of 12 disciplines in social sciences were put on hold. 2011: undergraduate degrees in journalism, communication and philosophy were removed.

  13. Case 2 Parallel Academy: Iranian academy is now nothing but a pointless bureaucratic office totally disconnected from free processes of producing and distributing knowledge.” Parallel Academy was shut down after a year along with all affiliated websites.

  14. Case 2 ICORN(International Cities of Refuge Network) offers temporary shelter to writers and artists at risk. Amnesty International: non-governmental organisation focused on human rights with over 7 million members and supporters around the world.

  15. Case 2 • Indirect Mechanisms of Censorship: • The arbitrary allocation of public resources including official publicity, frequencies and subsidies. • The arbitrary use of State’s mechanisms of regulation and enforcement • Using the groups of internet users or software to impose user generated censorship. • Using copy rights law as means of censorship.

  16. Effectiveness & Measures • Reaching the scholars in danger zones • Informing academicians at risk about programs • Involvement • Priorities: help or academic scholarily • The role of intermediary institutions • Future uncertainty

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