Campus Watch in the Media

MESA's Committee on Academic Freedom in a Time of Crisis

by Amy W. Newhall
Middle East Studies Association
October 23, 2002

http://www.campus-watch.org/article/id/280

The following letter was distributed to MESA members on October 23:

Dear Members,

MESA has agreed to take part in an important initiative announced by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) called the "Committee on Academic Freedom in a Time of Crisis." This committee is tracking incidents of harassment, interference, intimidation, threats, and destructive behavior against academics both on campus and off campus. Attacks from any point of view might originate from colleagues, students, newspapers, publishers, administrations, community groups, national organizations, websites, or other media.

If you have experienced what you believe to be violations of your academic freedom, please forward the information to the Secretariat whether they are Middle East related or not. Include a brief description, date and source of the problem, if that is known. If you prefer that this information not be forwarded to AAUP, please specify this in your message and rest assured that your information will remain in the MESA clearinghouse for internal reference only. No specifics will be released without your permission.

The board believes that we must gather this information in order to understand what threats to academic freedom we face and how serious they are. If we find that the facts do not do present a serious problem, we will all have reason for cheer.

Sincerely,

Amy W. Newhall
Executive Director

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Amy W. Newhall, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Middle East Studies Association

Assistant Professor
Department of Near Eastern Studies
University of Arizona

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