Clark University to host discussion on academic freedom

PanARMENIAN.Net - Clark University recently became a member of a group that helps individuals such as that professor. The Scholars at Risk network, an international group of institutions and individuals, works to promote academic freedom and defend the human rights of scholars worldwide.

“The Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University is at the forefront in researching and teaching about the Holocaust and other genocides. That American universities provided refuge to European Jewish scholars during the Holocaust deepens the value of Clark’s participation in the Scholars at Risk network,” said Mary Jane Rein, executive director of the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies.

“Conflicts around the globe and repressive governments continue to threaten scholars who risk arrest or harm because of their views or simply because they find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time,” she continued. “Providing assistance to endangered colleagues is imperative, especially since the center is currently home to one such professor who found himself threatened because of his views.”

An introductory event, “Academic Freedom in the Middle East and Beyond: Supporting Scholars at Risk,” featuring a panel discussion, will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. on April 11.

Panelists will include Clark University history professor Taner Akcam, Kaloosdian/Mugar Chair in Armenian Genocide Studies and a leading international authority on Armenian genocide, and Syrian human rights researcher and advocate Radwan Ziadeh. Mr. Ziadeh was a major player in the so-called “Damascus Spring,” a period of intense debate about politics and social issues, and calls for reform in Syria after the death of President Hafez al-Assad in 2000. He was a senior fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C., and is founder and director of the Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies in Syria, as well as co-founder and executive director of the Syrian Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Washington, D.C., telegram.com reported.