Last year was a terrible one for university professors and scholars working in Turkey and much of the Middle East.
In Turkey, the one-year decline in academic freedom, university self-governance and security of tenure was precipitous and very far-reaching. Thousands of professors have been purged from their positions and subjected to travel bans. Hundreds have been detained, and all university deans and presidents were forced to resign while only those approved through a government loyalty test were permitted to return. More than 15 private universities were closed, their assets seized, faculty dismissed and students forced to transfer.
Beyond Turkey, academics face troubling forms of repression and risk across the Middle East, whether as a consequence of the wars raging in Syria and Yemen, or the increasing authoritarian interventions against academics by governments like those of Egypt and Bahrain.
A one day symposium that is free and open to the public will address the threats to academic freedom in the region and beyond, with a special focus on Turkey and a keynote lecture by Iranian-Canadian scholar, professor Homa Hoodfar. The Jan. 27 event is sponsored by the UCLA Center for European and Russian Studies, Center for Near Eastern Studies, Anthropology and the Department of Gender Studies. It will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Room 1357 at the UCLA School of Law.