Our faculty association has been a long-time supporter and partner of the Scholars at Risk organization and network. Over the years, several of our members have offered discovery seminars entitled “Advocating for Scholars at Risk” in which they collaborated with SAR personnel on choosing a ‘scholar at risk’ whose academic freedom, livelihood, or life was under threat in their country of residence, and guide the students to build an appropriate advocacy campaign during the quarter. Discovery seminars of 1 unit yield $1,500 in research funds; those for 2 units, $3,000. Students attending the seminar will have the opportunity to attend the “Advocacy Day” in Washington DC, in which they will meet members of congress and/or senators to advocate for their case. These seminars combine education for students to the values of academic freedom and their intersection with human rights advocacy. They also involve organizational experiences in advocacy.
The deadline for proposing a discovery seminar in the Spring is January 24. Please reach out to our President of the board, Claudio Fogu (who is also SAR representative for UCSB) if you would like to offer such a seminar, and/or have any questions regarding how to organize and run one: claudiofogu@ucsb.edu