The University of Pittsburgh announces the arrival of IIE-SRF fellow Dr. Omar Sadr from Afghanistan and shares its efforts to support additional scholars from the country.
In an article from the Texas Global Newsroom, the University of Texas at Austin shares its commitment to partnering with IIE-SRF to support threatened and displaced scholars.
Join us on Wednesday, December 8 for a bilingual discussion hosted by IIE-SRF and The Section on Venezuelan Studies at LASA (live interpretation available). Register here.
Lea el anuncio en español aquí
Venezuela’s entrenched political and economic crises are having a devastating impact on the country’s university students, professors, and higher education sector at large. Severe restrictions on universities’ autonomy, massive decreases in research funding and faculty salaries, and general insecurity have crippled scholars’ ability to conduct their work and left many universities on the brink of paralysis. By some estimates, nearly 60 percent of Venezuela’s professors and researchers been compelled to leave the country. Those who remain encounter deteriorating conditions on their once-vibrant university campuses, where resource-deprived classrooms and laboratories stand largely abandoned. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the difficulties for academics in Venezuela, who have been forced to grapple with increased repression, a worsening economy, and an under-resourced health care system. The higher education crisis has led to a dramatic increase in requests for support from Venezuelan academics to IIE’s Scholar Rescue Fund (IIE-SRF). In the first 10 months of 2021 alone, IIE-SRF supported more of the country’s scholars to safely resume their work abroad than any year in the program’s history.
“Venezuela’s Higher Education Crisis” – the fourth webinar of the IIE-SRF Dialogues series – will elucidate the impacts of Venezuela’s economic and political crises on the country’s higher education sector as well as IIE-SRF’s efforts to help Venezuelan scholars resume their teaching and research, particularly within the Latin America region. An IIE-SRF fellow from Venezuela will also discuss his fellowship experience in Chile and offer insights on the unique challenges of the largest recorded migration crisis in the Americas. The webinar is co-hosted by IIE-SRF and The Section on Venezuelan Studies at the Latin American Studies Association (LASA), the largest professional association in the world for individuals and institutions engaged in the study of Latin America. The discussion, which will be held primarily in Spanish, will take place on Wednesday, December 8th at 4 pm Eastern Standard Time. (Participants will have the option of listening to a live English translation during the webinar using Zoom’s language interpretation feature.) The webinar will feature:
We hope to see you at the webinar! Register here.
About IIE-SRF Dialogues: “Venezuela’s Higher Education Crisis” is the fourth session of IIE-SRF’s 2021 webinar series IIE-SRF Dialogues. Webinars in this series explore the threats facing academics globally as well as the ongoing efforts to help these scholars resume their work and rebuild their lives and careers. These hour-long webinars feature IIE-SRF fellows and alumni, IIE-SRF partners, and other experts discussing the world’s most urgent higher education emergencies, key topics related to academic freedom, and best practices in assisting threatened and displaced scholars as identified by IIE-SRF and our Alliance partners. You can view our prior webinars using the below links:
» Attacks on Higher Education, co-hosted by the Global Coalition to Prevent Education from Attack (GCPEA)
» Yemen’s Higher Education Crisis, co-hosted by the Association for Yemeni Academics & Professionals (AYAP)
» The enduring impact of IIE-SRF scholars on communities worldwide: Four alumni share their stories
About IIE-SRF: The Institute of International Education’s Scholar Rescue Fund (IIE-SRF) is the only global program that arranges and funds fellowships for threatened and displaced scholars at partnering higher education institutions worldwide. Since its founding in 2002, IIE-SRF has supported over 950 scholars from 60 countries in partnership with more than 440 host institutions in 51 countries. IIE-SRF is committed to supporting Venezuelan academics facing threats to their lives and careers (see page 108). Venezuelan scholars have undertaken IIE-SRF fellowships at host universities in six countries, including two countries in Latin America.
La inestabilidad política generalizada de Venezuela y la prolongada crisis económica están teniendo un impacto devastador en los estudiantes universitarios, los profesores y el sector de la educación superior del país en general. Las severas restricciones a la autonomía de las universidades, la disminución masiva en la financiación de la investigación y de los salarios del profesorado, y la inseguridad general han paralizado la capacidad de los académicos para llevar a cabo su trabajo y han dejado a muchas universidades al borde de la parálisis. Según algunas estimaciones, casi el 60 por ciento de los investigadores científicos venezolanos han abandonado el país. Los que se quedan se encuentran con el deterioro de las condiciones de sus campus universitarios que alguna vez fueron brillantes, donde las aulas y los laboratorios, carentes de recursos, se encuentran en gran parte abandonados. La pandemia de COVID-19 ha exacerbado las dificultades para los académicos en Venezuela, que se han visto obligados a lidiar con una mayor represión, un empeoramiento de la economía y un sistema de atención médica con recursos insuficientes. La crisis de la educación superior ha provocado un aumento dramático de solicitudes de apoyo por parte de los académicos venezolanos al Fondo de Rescate Académico del IIE (IIE’s Scholar Rescue Fund). Solo en los primeros 10 meses de 2021, el IIE-SRF apoyó a más académicos del país que cualquier otro año en la historia del programa, para que reanuden su trabajo en el extranjero de forma segura.
“La crisis de la educación superior en Venezuela” (“Venezuela’s Higher Education Crisis”) -el cuarto seminario web de la serie Diálogos del IIE-SRF (IIE-SRF Dialogues)- dilucidará las repercusiones de la crisis económica y política de Venezuela en el sector de la educación superior del país, así como los esfuerzos del IIE-SRF para ayudar a los académicos venezolanos a reanudar su labor docente y de investigación, especialmente en la región de América Latina. Un becario del IIE-SRF de Venezuela también hablará de su experiencia como becario en Chile y brindará su visión sobre los desafíos únicos de la mayor crisis migratoria registrada en América. El seminario web está copatrocinado por el IIE-SRF y Sección de Estudios Venezolanos de la Asociación de Estudios Latinoamericanos (LASA), la mayor asociación profesional del mundo para personas e instituciones dedicadas al estudio de América Latina. El debate, que se llevará a cabo principalmente en español, tendrá lugar el miércoles 8 de diciembre a las 4 pm, hora del este. (Los participantes tendrán la opción de escuchar una traducción al inglés en directo durante el seminario web utilizando la función de interpretación de idiomas de Zoom). El seminario web contará con:
¡Esperamos verse ahí! Registrarse aquí.
Acerca de los Diálogos del IIE-SRF (IIE-SRF Dialogues): “La crisis de la educación superior en Venezuela” (“Venezuela’s Higher Education Crisis”) es la cuarta sesión de la serie de seminarios web 2021 Diálogos del IIE-SRF (IIE-SRF Dialogues) del IIE-SRF. Los seminarios web de esta serie exploran las amenazas a las que se enfrentan los académicos en todo el mundo, así como los esfuerzos en curso para ayudar a estos académicos a reanudar su trabajo y reconstruir sus vidas y carreras. Estos debates de una hora de duración cuentan con la participación de becarios y ex becarios del IIE-SRF, socios del IIE-SRF y otros expertos que debaten las emergencias principales del mundo en el ámbito de la educación superior, los temas clave relacionados con la libertad académica y las mejores prácticas para ayudar a los académicos amenazados y desplazados, según lo identificado por el IIE-SRF y nuestros socios de la Alianza. Puede ver nuestros seminarios web previos en los siguientes enlaces:
»Ataques a la educación superior (Attacks on Higher Education), coorganizado por la Coalición Mundial para Prevenir los Ataques a la Educación (GCPEA)
»La crisis de la educación superior en Yemen (Yemen’s Higher Education Crisis), coorganizada por la Asociación de Académicos y Profesionales de Yemen (AYAP)
»El impacto duradero de los becarios del IIE-SRF en comunidades de todo el mundo (The enduring impact of IIE-SRF scholars on communities worldwide): cuatro ex becarios comparten sus historias
Acerca de IIE-SRF: El Fondo de Rescate Académico del Instituto de Educación Internacional (IIE-SRF) el único programa global que organiza y financia becas para académicos amenazados y desplazados en instituciones de educación superior asociadas en todo el mundo. Desde su creación en 2002, IIE-SRF ha apoyado a casi 950 académicos de 60 países colocando becarios en más de 440 instituciones de educación superior en 51 países. IIE-SRF mantiene su compromiso de abordar esta crises ortogando académicos venezolanos amenazados y desplazados. (página 108) Becarios venezolanos están realizando becas de IIE-SRF en instituciones en seis países, incluidos dos países en America Latina.
In a Global News article, Western University in Ontario, Canada announces scholarships for Afghan students and shares its commitment to supporting Afghan scholars in partnership with IIE-SRF.
With the arrival of IIE-SRF Assistant Director Emily Borzcik in Belgium, we are excited to share that IIE-SRF’s new office in Brussels is now open! IIE-SRF’s physical presence in Europe will enable us to deepen our existing European partnerships and enhance our scholar support efforts at a time when the number of academics in need is growing rapidly.
IIE-SRF fellow Henry Meriki of Cameroon speaks with the Hartford Courant about his fellowship experience at Wesleyan University.
In the Cornell Chronicle, Cornell University outlines its response to the crisis in Afghanistan and shares its commitment to partnering with IIE-SRF in support of Afghan scholars.
IIE CEO Dr. Allan Goodman and Gordon Brown, United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education and former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, have published an op-ed in Project Syndicate on the barriers to educational attainment in displaced populations. They describe how the global refugee and displacement crisis has led to a lack of educational and employment opportunities for an entire generation of young people, furthering the cycle of instability in regions already facing the impacts of conflict or natural disasters. They further note that programs like IIE PEER, an online platform that enables displaced and refugee students to connect with educational opportunities, are helping these students discover pathways to continue their education.
Each year, thousands of scholars face threats to their lives and careers because of their research, activism, or identities. Since 2002, Stanford University has worked with IIE-SRF to host nearly one dozen threatened and displaced scholars from around the globe. On Wednesday, November 3 at 12:30 pm PDT / 3:30 pm EDT, please join panelists including IIE-SRF alumnus Dr. Halil Ibrahim Yenigün of Turkey and IIE-SRF Director James Robin King as they participate in the inaugural Stanford Global Dialogues Series webinar, “Scholar Rescue at Stanford.”
RSVP for the webinar here.
Scientists displaced by conflict or instability often face difficult challenges as they continue to pursue their scholarly work. Read about the experiences of one IIE-SRF alumnus from Yemen and two CARA-supported scholars from Syria in Nature.
Read about application and selection processes, the fellowship experience, and how to partner with IIE-SRF.
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