Programs for Scholars
The New University in Exile Consortium programs are designed to provide a supportive academic community among hosted, exiled scholars from all over the world. Through a variety of opportunities and services, the Consortium creates a sense of belonging to an intellectual community and decreases the sense of isolation and dislocation from which many exiled scholars suffer. Whether meeting online or in-person at conferences and Consortium events, we provide opportunities for our scholars to connect and engage with each other—and the global academic community.
Among their Consortium peers, hosted scholars find shared academic interests, opportunities for collaborative research, as well as the tools and resources they need to conduct their research. Consortium programs also foster integral conversations about global threats to academic freedom, the value of free inquiry, and the future of higher education and scholarship among those very people who understand the import and fragility of these topics more than anyone else.
Programs
Weekly Scholars’ Forum
Each week, Consortium Scholars meet online for a forum led by a distinguished academic. The primary function of the Forum is to serve as a weekly gathering place for both intellectual and personal connection. Scholars give presentations, share personal and professional news, and discuss topics of mutual interest.
Co-Led Online Seminars
Each seminar is co-led by an endangered scholar hosted by one of our Consortium member institutions, and an endangered colleague of their choice. These seminars aim to connect exiled and stranded scholars to the academic community they have lost, reconnect students with their professors, and offer free, online learning opportunities to students and learners around the world.
Scholar Lecture Series
The Consortium facilitates lectures and presentations by scholar members at Consortium schools other than their own. These lectures provide Consortium scholars opportunities to present their work to new audiences, call attention to the increasingly egregious attacks on academic freedom and introduce a new and valuable perspective to faculty, students, and the local public.
Annual Scholars’ Conference
Each spring, Consortium Scholars organize and participate in a public conference dealing with academic and political issues of mutual concern. These conferences provide a platform for scholars to present their work to the broader academic community, and call attention to threats to academic freedom.
Pro-Bono Legal Advice
The Consortium is proud to be able to connect scholars with pro-bono legal advice in the United States regarding visas, immigration, and other issues.
Mental Health Resources
Free, online counseling and mental health services are available to all of our hosted scholars and students through the Safran Center for Psychological Services, based at The New School.
Publishing and Professional Support
We work one-on-one with scholars to help them find appropriate positions when their current fellowships end. This includes assistance with applications and resumes, interview preparation, letters of recommendation, career training, and more.
Library Access
Through The New School and other participating university libraries, the Library Access Initiative provides endangered scholars with access to online library access to continue their research.
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“The Consortium has helped me in many ways this year. First, it helped me keep in touch with a good group of colleagues. When you stay connected with a group that shares the same concerns and aspirations, it feels good and you feel that you are not alone… The weekly talks that I attended in the Consortium were very valuable and informative. I learned a lot from them and they opened up new ideas in my mind for, hopefully, new research projects.”
Consortium Scholar
Learn More
Click on the links below to access the Consortium’s Annual Reports, Membership Guides, and news articles describing our programs in action.
2022-23 Annual Report
Stories, statistics, and the newest initiatives from our 2022-23 year.
2023-24 Membership Guide
All of the latest programs, benefits to scholars, member universities, and more.
“They Can’t Kill Us All”: These Scholars Lost Their Countries and Found Each Other
Originally published on Mother Jones by Melissa Fay Greene.