Partners

The organisers would like to thank all the organisations that have helped make the workshops possible. Their passion and dedication to university values has been an inspiration to everyone involved. New institutions, organisations and individuals interested in partnering to arrange a workshop in their region are urged to contact SAR or NEAR for further details.

The organisers of the international academic freedom workshops include:

Scholars at Risk is an international network of universities, colleges and individuals working to promote academic freedom and to defend the human rights of scholars worldwide. Scholars at Risk works to defend as many threatened academics, researchers, writers and other intellectuals as possible before its too late, including by offering positions of academic sanctuary to the most threatened. Scholars at Risk also promotes research, advocacy and education aimed at strengthening understanding of and respect for higher education and university values.

The Network for Education and Academic Rights (NEAR) is a membership-based, non-governmental organisation which facilitates international collaboration between organisations active in issues of academic freedom and educational rights. NEAR was launched at a UNESCO-sponsored event in Paris in June 2001 to establish a clearing house of information and facilitate joint action. NEAR receives reports of academic rights violation from its member organisations and credible media sources, which are posted as alerts on the NEAR website.

Leading financial support for the workshops project is provided by:

The Open Society Institute works to build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens. To achieve its mission, OSI seeks to shape public policies that assure greater fairness in political, legal, and economic systems and safeguard fundamental rights. On a local level, OSI implements a range of initiatives to advance justice, education, public health, and independent media. At the same time, OSI builds alliances across borders and continents on issues such as corruption and freedom of information. OSI places a high priority on protecting and improving the lives of people in marginalised communities.

Additional support for workshops participants was provided by:

Arcadia, formerly the Lisbet Rausing Charitable Fund, is a grant-making fund established in 2001. From 2009 onwards, Arcadia’s key mission is to protect endangered treasures of culture and nature. This includes near extinct languages, rare historical archives and museum quality artefacts, and the protection of ecosystems and environments threatened with extinction. Although no longer part of our remit, we have historically donated to charities working to protect free societies and human rights, to encourage education and to promote philanthropy.

On-going research, education and advocacy partners include:

The Arab Society for Academic Freedom was formed at a regional conference entitled Academic Freedom in Arab Universities, held in March 2008 in Amman, Jordan. The aims of the Society are to disseminate information relating to academic freedom, to gather information on academic freedom in Arab universities, to conduct research on academic freedom, to provide advice and support for academics whose freedoms are being threatened, to encourage communication and to set up a legal defence fund for academic work.

The African Academic Freedom Network was formed at a regional conference entitled Rethinking Academic Freedom in East African Universities, held in October 2008 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The network pledged to be an effective vehicle for information-sharing and development of joint projects going forward. The network was extended after a further conference entitled Academic Freedom and University Autonomy in West African Universities, which took place in Accra, Ghana in April 2009.

Partners on specific workshops include:

Istanbul, Turkey

The Human Rights Law Research Centre at Istanbul Bilgi University is active in raising awareness of, protecting and developing human rights law and humanitarian law domestically and internationally. In addition to organising conferences, symposiums, seminars and round table discussions, both at home and abroad, the Centre is also working in unison with a number of national and international organisations, both public and private, on various projects in the subject of human rights.

Vilnius, Lithuania

The European Humanities University International (EHU) is a Belarusian university in exile based in Vilnius, Lithuania. EHU was founded in Minsk in 1992 and closed by authorities in 2004. It re-launched activities in Vilnius in 2005 and was granted the status of a Lithuanian university in 2006. Currently, EHU is the only Belarusian university committed to academic freedom and the process of integrating a European higher education on BA and MA levels. The growing reputation of EHU has rapidly brought it into collaboration with some well-known European and American universities, distinguished for their quality of education and academic life.

St. Petersburg, Russia

Smolny College is the first academic programme in Russia founded upon the principles of liberal education. It emerged as a joint programme of Bard College (USA) and Saint Petersburg State University in 1994. Bard College’s interest in innovative academic plans and the reform of international education coincided with the interests of a group of creatively thinking scholars from St. Petersburg State University. In the fall of 1997 the Smolny Center announced a programme of open courses to be attended by students from SPSU and other St. Petersburg universities. In light of the considerable number of students and professors showing great interest in liberal education, the center was transformed into Smolny College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in 1999.

Amman, Jordan

The Amman Centre for Human Rights Studies (ACHRS) is an independent, regional, scientific, advocacy centre for studies and training on human rights. It was founded in 1999 and is registered in Jordan. The centre aims to spread the culture of human rights in the Arab society promoting awareness on specific aspects related to human rights. The ACHRS organises public conferences, publishes research material and reports, offers training opportunities to a range of different sectors and administers thematic websites on human rights.

The United National University, Amman, is part of a worldwide network of United Nations University Research and Training Centers. The UNU is dedicated to the generation and transfer of knowledge, and the strengthening of individual and institutional capacities in furtherance of the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. The mission of UNU is to contribute through research and capacity building, to efforts to resolve the pressing global problems that are a concern of the United Nations, its Peoples and Member States. 

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

The Organization for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa (OSSREA) is a regional membership-based and donor-supported research and capacity-building organisation whose mission is to promote dialogue and interaction between researchers and policy-makers in Eastern and Southern Africa with a view to enhancing the impact of research on policy-making and development planning. Its headquarters is based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The Forum for Social Studies (FSS) is an independent policy research and dialogue centre. Since its establishment in 1998, it has undertaken a wide range of activities to execute its mandate of promoting a democratic tradition of informed public debate on development and policy issues. It has conducted original research on those issues, focusing on the three major areas of environment, governance and poverty. This research has resulted in a wide range of publications, including research reports, monographs and books.

Accra, Ghana

The University of Ghana is the oldest and largest of the seven Ghanaian public universities. It is the most prestigious university in Ghana. It was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast, and was originally an affiliate college of the University of London, which supervised its academic programmes and awarded degrees. It gained full university status in 1961, and now has nearly 34,000 students. The University is mainly based at Legon, about twelve kilometres northeast of the centre of Accra.

The West African Research Center (WARC) is the overseas research center for The West African Research Association (WARC). It is located in Dakar, Senegal. WARC is a center for academic exchange between American and West African scholars that encourages research on the region of West Africa. The idea for the overseas center came about in May 1992 and was implemented in the fall of 1993. Since its inception, WARC has grown both in terms of staff and influence as it continues to connect researchers in the USA with researchers in the region of West Africa interested in common issues.

The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) is headquartered in Dakar Senegal. It was established in 1973 as an independent Pan-African research organisation with a primary focus on the social sciences, broadly defined. It is recognised not only as the pioneer African social research organisation but also as the apex non-governmental centre of social knowledge production on the continent.