The University of Vermont is a member of Scholars at Risk (SAR), a network of over 530 higher education institutions in 42 countries working to protect threatened scholars, prevent attacks on higher education and promote academic freedom.
SAR member institutions assist persecuted scholars and students by offering temporary research and teaching positions, monitoring and advocating against attacks on higher education, and conducting learning initiatives to promote academic freedom. Individuals at member institutions have the opportunity to engage in SAR activities, including:
Host a Scholar: All Interested Departments
Member institutions invite threatened scholars to temporarily join their campus communities as professors, researchers, lecturers, visiting scholars, post-docs, graduate fellows, or students. Learn more
Speaker Series: Suitable for a Variety of Disciplines
The Vivian G. Prins Scholars at Risk Speaker Series is a wonderful opportunity for network institutions to bring to campus one or more diverse, interesting, courageous scholars, each with a powerful and unique story to share.
Student Advocacy Seminars: International Affairs, Journalism, Regional Studies, Law School, Human Rights
Student Advocacy Seminars provide undergraduate students with the opportunity to develop human rights research and advocacy skills by investigating and acting in support of threatened members of the global higher education community.
Remote Fellowships: All Interested Departments
Universities can create remote fellowships through which a SAR scholar can receive a university email address; access library and database resources through this email address/university affiliation; publish work using the university’s affiliation; in some instances, connect with mentors or teach remote classes at the host university; and re-engage with academia after being pushed outside the university space, sometimes for years.
Academic Freedom Legal Clinics: Graduate Level Programs, International Affairs, Journalism, Regional Studies, Law School, Human Rights
Scholars at Risk’s legal clinics give students and faculty the opportunity to engage locally and internationally with practical and theoretical issues relating to academic freedom, responses to attacks on higher education, and related human rights issues.
Free Online Course: "Dangerous Questions: Why Academic Freedom Matters?": All Interested Departments
Scholars at Risk offers a free online course, "Dangerous Questions: Why Academic Freedom Matters," developed in collaboration with the University of Oslo and partners on the Academic Refuge Project. SAR staff are available to also discuss how you can integrate the MOOC into your existing online course, and can offer suggestions for complementary course assignments for each module.
Academic Freedom Monitoring Project: International Affairs, Journalism, Regional Studies, Law School, Human Rights
Researchers partner with SAR to document and analyze attacks on higher education, including physical violence, imprisonment, prosecution, professional retaliation, travel restrictions, and other forms of attacks.
Scholars in Prison Project: All Interested Departments
Take action on behalf of scholars and students facing imprisonment, as a result of peaceful expression and association.
Interested individuals are invited to learn more about Scholars at Risk and how to get involved by signing up for SAR updates.