To discuss threats to academic freedom, over 50 people gathered in Belfast on Tuesday the 20 February, at an event of the Scholars at Risk Ireland Committee. This is the first ever event held in Northern Ireland, and as such was a joint offering hosted by Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University.

Following an opening by Janice Caruthers, as Dean of Research for the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at QUB, the SAR Annual Report was launched Denise Roche of SAR-Europe, based at Maynooth University. The reflections of the past SAR Ireland Committee Chair, Rowena Pecchenino (also Maynooth) were presented by the incoming Chair, Rory O’Connell.

Importantly, the day included contributions grounded in the personal-professional experiences of academics who had, or were, facing various threats and challenges to their academic freedoms. Some of these were linked to organisations – such as Scholars at Risk, the Council of At Risk Academics and Fobzu – which specifically sought to offer protections and support for academia and academics at risk. Most were within current institutional protections as staff members or fellows, though importantly one contributor provided insights into the challenges of continuing intellectual practice and support from a country in conflict, when without institutional protections.

These conversations commenced with a presentation by Helen Murray (King’s College London, Trustee of Funzo) titled ‘Between solidarity and silencing: A long view on building links between Palestinian and UK universities’. It was then followed by contributions of Abdul Aziz Mohibbi (Maynooth University), Dr Tetiana Kolisnyk (QUB), Dr Mohammed Hassan (University of Essex) and Dr Liudmyla Fihurska (QUB), who included reflections about their countries of Aghanistan, Sudan and Ukraine.

'Academic Freedom in these islands' was the second panel with contributions by Colin Harvey (QUB), Goretti Horgan (UU), Graham Ellison (QUB) & Roja Fazaeli (University of Galway).

In addition, Darren Ferguson (the director of Beyond Skin) discussed the Musicians at Risk Resettlement Scheme, through which many facing persecution or fleeing conflict have continued their practice, and thereby maintained their identities. This was followed by a performance by three musicians – Swar, Haroun and Conor – who had formed a trio in Northern Ireland, originally from Sudan and Ireland. They are pictured below.

It is hoped that the event will catalyse more action, support and deliberation about how academic practice and academics can be better protected and enabled on these island, and by those on these islands.

Scholars at Risk has three organising frames: Protection, Advocacy and Learning. To find out more about the organisation, please visit https://www.scholarsatrisk.org/. The current Chair of the Scholars at Risk Ireland Committee is Rory O’Connell (UU) – he organised the event with Dina Zoe Belluigi, who is the representative at QUB.

This event was supported by the Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice at Queen’s University of Belfast (QUB), and the Transitional Justice Institute (TJI) and INCORE at Ulster University (UU).

_{Co-organisers Rory O'Connell (Ulster University) and Dina Zoe Belluigi (QUB) stand behind three musicians - Conor (Ireland), Swar & Haroun (Syria) who are affiliated with Beyond Skin and the Musicians at Risk Resettlement Scheme}

 

Professor Dina Zoe Belluigi

Professor Belluigi’s work relates to the agency and ethico-historical responsibility of those who re-present in contexts undergoing transitions in authority and in the shadow of oppression. She is concerned with the complexity of the conditions which (in)form artists' and academics' critical consciousness within institutions and countries. One of the current question is higher education institutions' fit-for-purpose for driving substantive change, such as the SDGs which they have been mandated to do. She is committed to the growth of pan-African and international networks for advancing Critical University Studies, where committed scholars, practitioners and policy makers across the globe actively pursue an emancipatory imagination for the future university.