THE CRISIS OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN SYRIA: A panel discussion

PRESENTED BY THE NEW SCHOOL’S CENTER FOR PUBLIC SCHOLARSHIP AND IIE’S SCHOLAR RESCUE FUND

Monday, October 7, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. in New York

NOTE TO EDITORS: DUE TO THE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN, AMBASSADOR ROSEMARY DICARLO WILL BE UNABLE TO ATTEND

NEW YORK, October 2, 2013- The New School’s Center for Public Scholarship will host a keynote talk and panel discussion on Syrian Higher Education in Crisis: The Road Forward. Co-Sponsored by the Institute of International Education and the IIE Scholar Rescue Fund, the event explores possible solutions to the rapidly deteriorating situation of scholarship and research in a country ravaged by more than two years of civil war. The even will take place on Monday, Oct. 7 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in The New School's Theresa Lang Community and Student Center (Room I202), Arnhold Hall, 55 West 13th Street.

“The ongoing crisis in Syria has led to the destruction of the entire higher education system in Syria. This event seeks to draw much-needed attention to the collapse of academic institutions and support for intellectuals in Syria, but will explore what the international academic community can do to help,” said Arien Mack, director of the Center for Public Scholarship.

Experts on Syria, humanitarian intervention, and higher education will explore what programmatic interventions the international higher education sector and donor communities might pursue in order to support Syrian academics and students.

“As Syrian university labs and classrooms are being bombed, and students and professors killed, kidnapped and imprisoned, the international community has a singular chance to affect the future of the Syrian national academy and a moral imperative to do so,” said IIE President Allan E. Goodman.

Ambassador Rosemary DiCarlo, Deputy Permanent Representative United States Mission to the United Nations, will deliver the keynote address. Panelists include Amal Alachkar (Scholar Rescue Fund Fellow; Visiting Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacology, University of California, Irvine), Moaath Al-Rajab (Scholar Rescue Fund Fellow, University in Exile Scholar at The New School, visiting research fellow at Parsons The New School of Design School of Art, Media and Technology), and Keith Watenpaugh (Associate Professor and Director, Human Rights Initiative, University of California, Davis). Allan Goodman (President and CEO, Institute of International Education) will moderate the panel, and Mark Angelson (Chairman, IIE's Scholar Rescue Fund) and David Van Zandt (President, The New School) will deliver opening remarks.

Founded in 1919, The New School was born out of principles of academic freedom, tolerance, and experimentation. Committed to social engagement, The New School today remains in the vanguard of innovation in higher education, with more than 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students challenging the status quo in design and the social sciences, liberal arts, management, the arts, and media. The New School welcomes thousands of adult learners annually for continuing education courses and calendar of lectures, screenings, readings, and concerts. Through its online learning portals, research institutes, and international partnerships, The New School maintains a global presence. Learn more at www.newschool.edu.

About the Center for Public Scholarship
The Center for Public Scholarship aims to bring the best scholarship and expertise to bear on current, pressing social issues in a way that makes the scholarship accessible to the public and simultaneously deepens understanding of what may be at stake and how to proceed. It seeks to become a catalyst for events that draw on the humanities, social sciences, design, and public policy and have the potential of accomplishing our mission, namely, enhancing the public's understanding of the significant issues of our time. The Center is dedicated to promoting academic freedom and freedom of inquiry, goals that are rooted in the earliest history and ideals of The New School.

About the Institute of International Education and IIE’s Scholar Rescue Fund
The Institute of International Education, a private not-for-profit organization founded in 1919, is a world leader in the international exchange of people and ideas. IIE designs and implements over 250 programs of study and training for students, educators, young professionals and trainees from all sectors with funding from government, and private sources. It has a network of 19 international offices and affiliates around the world and more than 1,200 college and university members. IIE's Scholar Rescue Fund provides fellowships for established scholars whose lives and work are threatened in their home countries. These fellowships permit professors, researchers, and public intellectuals to find temporary refuge at universities, colleges, and research centers anywhere in the world, enabling them to pursue their academic work in safety and to continue to share their knowledge with students, colleagues, and the community. In its first 10 years, IIE-SRF has provided fellowships to over 500 remarkable scholars from 50 countries, including leading an effort of historic proportion to save the intellectual capital of Iraq. Learn more at www.iie.org and www.scholarrescuefund.org

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COMMUNICATIONS AND EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

PRESS RELEASE

Media Contacts:

Sam Biederman, The New School
212.229.5667 x3094
[email protected]

Sharon Witherel, IIEl
212.984.5380
[email protected]