Barnard College has joined the New University in Exile Consortium (New UIE) established by the New School for Social Research. This initiative is based on the conviction that the academic community has the responsibility and capacity to assist scholars and protect the intellectual capital that is jeopardized when universities and scholars are under assault. The New UIE will also work to end government policies that would bar entry of refugee scholars.
As a participating institution, Barnard is hosting a scholar in exile and facilitating community among other refugee scholars who are part of the Consortium.
“Ensuring the free and open exchange of ideas among individuals from different cultures and backgrounds is vital for any institution committed to academic excellence," said Barnard College Provost and Dean of the Faculty Linda Bell, an ex officio advisory member of the New UIE. "I am certain that the New University in Exile Consortium’s efforts will result in exciting new scholarship of genuine purpose and value.”
Barnard is also a member of Scholars at Risk, an international network of institutions and individuals whose mission is to protect scholars and promote academic freedom.
The mission of the New UIE is to create an intellectual community of rescued scholars and of the universities that sponsor them by hosting seminars designed in collaboration with the scholars and their host institutions; creating workshops and an annual conference of scholars; and collaborating on other projects that will bring the scholars into frequent contact with each other and their host colleagues.
Currently, the Consortium is comprised of 10 member institutions. In addition to Barnard and The New School, the institutions are: Brown University, Columbia University, Georgetown University, George Mason University, Rutgers University-Newark, Connecticut College, Trinity College, and Wellesley College.
The New University in Exile Consortium will officially launch on September 6 at 6 pm with a public event at The New School. It will feature discussion among Kati Marton, Hungarian-American author and journalist, award-winning former NPR and ABC News correspondent, and human rights activist; David Miliband, President and CEO, International Rescue Committee and former Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom; and moderator T. Alexander Aleinikoff, University Professor, The New School and Director of the Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility. Currently hosted endangered scholars from member institutions will participate as well.
