Hard economic times have affected many programmes within Trinity College, but one organisation in particular is trying to add another dimension of diversity in spite of the struggles to sustain itself.
The Scholars at Risk Committee, which supports and hosts international scholars, provides a safe space for them to work and research for a span of one year. Often these scholars are persecuted for their ideas in their home countries and are forced to leave, sometimes permanently.
Dr Roja Fazaeli, a lecturer in Islamic studies, chairs the committee and helps orchestrate the programme’s projects, including bringing in international academics at Trinity College and other institutions throughout the country.
“Unfortunately, given the economic situation it’s hard to bring them and keep them here,” said Dr Fazaeli. “Funding is our main challenge here from our side. It’s hard to host them in a dignified way if we cannot come up with adequate funding.”
Over the past year the committee has focused on raising the profile of the network within the college community in an effort to generate more support. Currently the committee is sustained by the Trinity Equality Fund, which sponsors the Scholars at Risk Speaker Series that was launched last October. The series invites threatened academics willing to share their experiences with students and faculty at Trinity College.
“The idea of the series was to raise awareness of the work of the Scholars at Risk programme and also to start fundraising,” said Dr Fazaeli.
The sensitive nature of the scholars’ details has posed the greatest challenge to the project. While the identities of the participants are handled carefully to minimise the prospect of danger, the lecture series can be a gamble for the speakers, as Dr Fazaeli said.
“It’s hard to find people who would publicly announce their association with the network because of the threats and risk involved.”
Since the committee was established around two-and-a-half years ago, Trinity College has only been able to host one Iranian economic scholar in partnership with DCU, and other plans have fallen through due to financial shortcomings.
The logistics of the hosting process have been affected by the lack of funds, including pooling enough money to sponsor the scholar’s housing and visa application fees.
Dr Fazaeli hopes that once the funds are made available again they will be able to host one international scholar at least every one or two years.
“The important thing for us is to bring them out to Ireland” she said, adding that the scholars don’t necessarily have to be at Trinity, but at whichever institution will best host them.
The network is designed to bring in diversity to the community, by which students and faculty learn something from scholars and in turn the university provides a safe space for the scholars to do their work, and sometimes teach.
Integration is key for this programme, Dr Fazaeli said, explaining that interaction between the scholars and their students and colleagues is really the aim. For the short term, however, it is just about maintaining the committee’s presence at the college.
“Our goal is really to keep the programme alive and to make academics at Trinity aware, and make it sustainable.”
Dr Fazaeli is looking to generate more community participation by opening up the committee to students. For now, Trinity student Ross Holder is interning for the committee and remains optimistic about the near future of the programme.
“I hope that our increased profile will encourage scholars and academics who are in need of assistance to come forward and join our organisation,” he said. “It is only by bringing these issues to the public light that we have any change of making changes for the better.”
The committee’s lecture series is scheduled to return this coming January, and has already featured a fellow at the Irish Centre for Human Rights and an Iranian human rights lawyer currently living in exile.
The Scholars at Risk Network is an international network based in New York City, and supports threatened scholars by promoting their right to teach, research, and publish their ideas in their home countries and abroad. There are currently 240 higher education institutions in 29 countries working to bring academic freedoms to scholars worldwide.
