Renew your MESA Membership today!
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.
The Board of Directors of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) is concerned about the potential negative consequences of aspects of the recently announced National Flagship Language Initiative – Pilot Program (NFLI-P), under the National Security Education Program (NSEP) authorized by Congress in 1991.
“The Enhanced Border Security and Visa Entry Reform Act,” which passed unanimously (97-0) in the Senate on Thursday, April 18, prohibits admission of people from Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Sudan and North Korea unless they are coming to the United States as immigrants.
The Board of Directors of the Middle East Studies Association of North America is deeply disturbed by the University of South Florida’s decision to fire Professor Sami Al-Arian.
The Board of Directors of the Middle East Studies Association condemns the violent acts of Tuesday, September 11, 2001. We offer our sincere condolences to all those personally affected by the tragedy.
I am writing to you on behalf of the Board of Directors of the Middle East Studies Association. It has come to our attention that the Under-Secretary of the Turkish Ministry of Culture, Tekin Aybas, has expressed himself willing to investigate the possibility of changing the rules concerning residence and research permits in Turkish libraries and museums for both Turkish and foreign scholars who use them.