Middle East Studies Association

Responses

August 18, 2021
Letters and Statements from the Board

Joint letter from MESA and BRISMES regarding proposed University of Cambridge Deal with the UAE

On 18 August 2021, the BRISMES Committee on Academic Freedom and the Board of Directors of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) sent a joint letter to Professor Toope, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, to express our concern about the proposed academic deal between the University of Cambridge and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and to urge the University of Cambridge to reconsider the proposal.

April 14, 2021
Letters and Statements from the Board

Joint statement calling for the release of Ahmed Samir Santawy

MESA joins a statement amongst 74 NGOs to call upon the Egyptian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release 29-year-old student and researcher Ahmed Samir Santawy.

March 23, 2021
Letters and Statements from the Board

Joint letter to the EU regarding the case of Maâti Monjib

MESA joins a letter with 15 NGOs, led by Reporters Without Borders and Free Press Unlimited, to Josep Borrell and Eamon Gilmore of the European Union concerning the case of the Moroccan historian and journalist Maâti Monjib, which MESA's Committee on Academic Freedom (MENA wing) has followed with growing urgency.

February 12, 2021
Letters and Statements from the Board

MESA Board Statement in Solidarity with Protests at Boğaziçi University

The Board of Directors of the Middle East Studies Association of North America condemns the ongoing and intensified government assault on higher education in Turkey. As a scholarly association, MESA declares its solidarity with student and faculty protestors of the recent developments at Boğaziçi University. We join our voices to the demands raised by faculty and students: academic freedom, freedom of expression, and academic and democratic norms must be respected; and the autonomy of higher education in Turkey must be protected.

March 05, 2020
Letters and Statements from the Board

MESA Board letter to Durham University concerning BRISMES

The Board of Directors has issued an open letter to Durham University regarding the Vice Chancellor's decision to withdraw administrative services from the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES), following the society’s vote on a resolution in favor of supporting the academic boycott of Israel last year. MESA is gravely concerned over the implications for academic freedom and freedom of expression over controversial issues — not only for our colleagues engaged in Middle East studies in Britain, but also for British academia more broadly.

September 25, 2019
Letters and Statements from the Board

18 major scholarly societies join MESA in expressing concern about the Department of Education’s interpretation of Title VI

MESA and 18 other academic associations, representing over 100,000 concerned members, issue letter in response to allegations made by the DoE against the Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies, calling attention to the overly narrow and partisan conception of international studies contained in the letter, and pointing to past successes of Title VI programs in educating students and training experts with the needed depth and breadth in languages and regional and international studies.