Universities

The symposium aims to examine how the question of Palestine fits into contemporary European political and scholarly dynamics.

Academic Freedom

Fear & Loathing in the Halls of Academe: Trump’s Columbia U.

Tomdispatch

In 2024, Columbia kept the campus locked down. It put in place so many rules governing protests that it effectively quashed

Academic Freedom

Protesting U of Tennessee’s Firing of Professor Tamar Shirinian for Protected Speech

Committee on Academic Freedom

Committee on Academic Freedom | Middle East Studies Association | – Letter to the Chancellor of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, denouncing the suspension pending termination of Professor Tamar Shirinian Donde Plowman Chancellor, University of Tennessee, Knoxville chancellor@utk.edu Dear Chancellor Plowman: We write on behalf of the Middle East Studies Association of North […]

Academic Freedom

First Circuit Judges Strike down Israel Lobby Suit against MIT for Permitting Gaza Protests

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Erik Uebelacker at Courthouse News Service reports that a three-judge appeals panel of the US Court of Appeals, First Circuit, in Boston, struck down a lawsuit by a pro-Israel pressure group against the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) alleging that the university permitted pro-Palestine students to harass Jewish students. The […]

Academic Freedom

Academic Freedom Under Siege: Right Wing Repression and Principled Resistance

Mehmet Rakipoglu and İbrahim Ozcosar

By Mehmet Rakipoğlu and İbrahim Özcoşar | – Exeter, UK and Mardin, Türkiye (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – In the aftermath of 7 October 2023 – when Hamas’s surprise “Al-Aqsa Flood” attack and Israel’s devastating genocidal war on Gaza shook global politics – Western academia has entered its own crisis. From the United States […]

Academic Freedom

Protesting Northwestern U’s Flawed Compulsory Training on Criticism of Israel as “Antisemitism”

Committee on Academic Freedom

Committee on Academic Freedom | Middle East Studies Association | – Letter to Northwestern University expressing concern about its flawed compulsory anti-bias training and its threats against students who refuse to complete it Henry S. Bienen Interim President, Northwestern University nupresident@northwestern.edu Dear President Bienen and Colleagues: We write on behalf of the Middle […]

Academic Freedom

Protesting UC Berkeley handing Names of Faculty and Students to Dept. of Education

Committee on Academic Freedom

Committee on Academic Freedom | Middle East Studies Association of North America | – Letter to UC Berkeley regarding the university’s submission to the Department of Education of 160 names of persons associated with allegations of antisemitism President James B. Milliken Office of the President University of California president@ucop.edu Chancellor Rich Lyons Office of […]

Academic Freedom

Celebrating Court Ruling Striking down Trump’s $2 Billion Funding Freeze on Harvard

Middle East Studies Association

Middle East Studies Association of North America Court rules on Harvard College v. HHS Lawsuit in Favor of Harvard The Middle East Studies Association (MESA) welcomes a court decision striking down the Trump administration’s freezing of over $2 billion in federal grants to Harvard University. MESA filed an amicus curiae brief in support of Harvard […]

Academic Freedom

The Silence of the Scholars: How leading Academics gave Cover to Genocide in Gaza

Shamai Leibowitz

Silver Spring, Md. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – The true measure of a scholar is not the number of books they publish or the titles they hold. It is whether they speak when human beings are starved, bombed, and erased as a people. By that measure, some of America’s most visible academics have failed. […]