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MESA joined as a signer with other professional societies on a letter to Stanford University's administration about the recent decision to drastically cut support of their university press.
March 20, 2019 – The MESA Board deplores the ongoing detention of Dr. Hatoon al-Fassi who has been detained since June 21, 2018, by the government of Saudi Arabia. Dr. al-Fassi was among ten Saudi women brought to a closed-door court hearing on March 13, 2019 on unknown charges.
MESA joined in a letter to the Prime Minister of Hungary regarding academic inquiry and scholarly research in Hungary.
In response to Alaska Governor Dunleavy's proposed funding cuts for higher education, 32 professional societies signed-on to a letter expressing concern about the damage such cuts would impose.
February 27, 2019 – The Board of Directors of the Middle East Studies Association of North America and its Committee on Academic Freedom strongly condemn the Sudanese government’s violent suppression of peaceful public protests since December 2018, and the arbitrary detention of protestors, including many academics.
MESA Board of Directors issues revised security alert for study and research in Egypt, February 2019.
November 15, 2018 MESA Board statement affirming commitment to fight antisemitism as a form of racism.
November 15, 2018 MESA Board Statement on Deteriorating Security Conditions for Researchers in the UAE
MESA Board letter regarding attacks on faculty and students by non-academic groups.
Letter to both houses of Congress regarding denial of asylum application of Syrian writer, scholar, and human rights activist Dr. Radwan Ziadeh
The Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) expresses its strong opposition to the “Israel Anti-Boycott Act” (S. 720 and H.R. 1697), currently under consideration by Congress.
Condemnation of Executive Order limiting the entry of Middle Eastern refugees and immigrants to the U.S.
MESA Board letter to John Kerry requesting intervention regarding Turkish government measures against universities and academics following the July 15, 2016 coup attempt.
Statement by multiple organizations expressing profound concern over the apparent moves to dismantle the structure of Turkish higher education through purges, restrictions, and assertions of central control.
Statement regarding the impact of sanctions placed on Iran by the United States and their impact on valuable scholarly activity.
Statement regarding impact of legislated changes to the Visa Waiver Program on scholarly exchange
Statement issuing a security alert for study and research in Egypt.
Statement regarding the impact of Texas’s new Campus Carry law on freedom of expression in Texas universities.
The Board of Directors of the Middle East Studies Association condemns the increasing frequency and intensity of violent acts against civilians taking place in countries around the world. We are also alarmed at the related rise in the stereotyping and vilification of people of Middle East or Muslim background.
The MESA Board of Directors has identified the rising reliance on an increasingly contingent academic workforce as one of the greatest current challenges to the academic profession.
The Board of Directors of the Middle East Studies Association expresses great concern over reports of a possible $50 million or 40% cut to Title VI and Fulbright Hays funding.
On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA), I write to express our concern about Dean Robert Newman’s summary and arbitrary revocation of the appointments held at the University of Utah’s Middle East Center by Professors Peter Sluglett and Harris Lenowitz
Washington, D.C., and Tucson, Arizona — The Middle East Studies Association and the American Association of University Professors jointly released the following statement, titled “Iraq: Higher Education and Academic Freedom in Danger,” on July 5.
The Middle East Studies Association (MESA), the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) are profoundly concerned about the dangers facing academic life in Iraq today.
The Board of Directors of the Middle East Studies Association of North America views with extreme concern your June 5 proposal to fingerprint and photograph visitors to the United States from Middle Eastern countries. Such humiliating procedures will have a profoundly chilling effect on all scholarly and artistic exchanges and discourage visitors from Middle Eastern countries to the United States.