MESA has been building out the Academic Freedom Initiative (AFI), a project funded by the Mellon Foundation, to identify and track trends regarding academic freedom and repression on campuses across North America. Two initial datasets focus on recent immigration actions affecting higher education, and adverse employment outcomes for university employees since October 2023.
MESA's Task Force has created a new advocacy resource center for our members to consult in response to the repression of rights on campuses across North America and beyond.
Our letter calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Iranian students Ali Younesi and Amirhossein Moradi, who were denied fair trials and have been unjustly imprisoned for five years on baseless charges and subjected to mistreatment. In addition, the letter urges President Pezeshkian to uphold his campaign promises by protecting students' rights and academic freedom. It also highlights the broader crackdown on students in Iran, especially following the 2022 “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests, during which thousands faced arrests, suspensions, and disciplinary actions.
The Middle East Institute invites people to a Book Talk by Dr. Zhang Chuchu on her new book China’s Changing Role in the Middle East: Filling a Power Vacuum? held via Zoom.
Begins May 21, 2025
A federal judge has ruled that the case of AAUP v. Rubio can move forward. The lawsuit alleges that the administration’s ideological-deportation policy violates the First Amendment by targeting constitutionally protected speech that Americans have a right to hear and engage with.
Our letter condemning the last-minute cancellation of a keynote lecture that was to be given by Professor Eman Abdelhadi, purportedly on grounds of security.
NAAIMS invites abstract submissions for a fall conference on "Islam and AI: Challenges and Opportunities." The conference will be held online on Nov. 20th.
The Arabic Studies Department seeks to appoint a Visiting Assistant Professor of Arabic Studies for the 2025-2026 academic year, beginning in the fall of 2025 and running through May 2026.
Our letter expressing concern about the University of Colorado-Boulder’s apparent failure to meaningfully respond to a physical assault committed on campus against students advocating for Palestinian rights
Our letter regarding the use of violence by the police, as well as disciplinary and criminal proceedings against students, academics, and related institutions participating in protests against the pretrial imprisonment of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu following the annulment of his bachelor’s degree.
The symposium invites proposal submissions in English, French or Arabic by June 15, 2025.
Hunter College invites applications for two open-rank, tenure-track professors in Palestinian Studies (one in social sciences, one in humanities), starting Fall 2025.
The Conference on Global Iranian Diaspora Studies invite individual papers, pre-organized panels, and creative submissions that engage with the conference topics.
The Conference invite panel proposals and abstract submissions related to all major fields of Iranian studies in four general categories of politics, sociology, culture and economics are welcomed.
Our third letter to Egyptian officials regarding the unjust circumstances of Egyptian researcher and translator, Kholoud Said. We call on the authorities to dismiss all charges against her and reinstate her in her job at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina.
AMEWS invite nominations for the 2025 book awards.
CUE invite applications for St. Thomas the Apostle Distinguished Faculty Fellowship.
Join the panel discussion on April 14 at 4pm in the HFSC Social Room at Georgetown University or virtually.
Begins April 14, 2025
Our letter expressing concern about the termination of Dr. Helyeh Doutaghi, deputy director of Yale University’s Law and Political Economy Project and associate research scholar at Yale Law School, in the wake of allegations made on an obscure website whose founders and contributors are anonymous
The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) today filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in their lawsuit seeking to block the Trump administration from carrying out large-scale arrests, detentions, and deportations of noncitizen students and faculty members who participate in pro-Palestinian protests and other protected First Amendment activities.
Our letter expressing concern about Harvard University’s decision to remove Professor Cemal Kafadar and Associate Professor Rosie Bsheer as, respectively, director and associate director of the university’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies
The Division of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures invites applications for a pool of qualified lecturers to teach courses in any of the possible areas: Modern Hebrew, Modern Greek, Egyptology.
The Imam Ali Research Center, in collaboration with the Imam Ali Chair at the Hartford International University for Religion and Peace, invite applications to a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Shia Studies.
The Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo (NVIC) is pleased to announce that applications for its Fall study-abroad programmes in Arabic and Middle East Studies are now officially open.