New University in Exile Consortium on PBS

The Open Mind: Academics in the Crosshairs

The New University in Exile Consortium was featured on The Open Mind on PBS. During Academics in the Crosshairs, Founder and Director, Professor Arien Mack discussed the New School’s history as a home for endangered scholars, and explained how the Consortium, launched in September 2019, continues to foster community for exiled scholars universities and colleges across the United States.

“They’ve lost their sense of belonging. They are really suffering from exile, which is a very profound state, as many people have written about it on how devastating it can be and the mission of the University in Exile Consortium is to try through various activities and conversations to really create a sense of community among the hosted scholars.”

– Arien Mack

Professor Mack was joined by Consortium Scholar, Kian Tajbakhsh. He described the global assault on intellectual freedom and his personal journey to the United States from Iran. Professor Tajbakhsh highlights the obstacles scholars must overcome when forced to flee their home countries to establish a new life for themselves and their families, including a new career, in an unfamiliar place.

To hear more from Professors Mack and Tajbakhsh, and to stream the complete episode, please click here. For more information about the New University in Exile Consortium please visit our home page, linked here.