First modification:
In 2017, France launched a program to support academic freedom for those who have been forced into exile or flee their country in order to practice their profession. With ‘Pause’ (Pause), piloted by the Collège de France, 280 scientists and artists have been driven, including Afghans who continue to arrive after the return of the Taliban to power.
“The ‘Pause’ program was born from the mobilization of French higher education and research after the beheading of the director of the archaeological site of Palmyra, Syria, by the terrorist group Islamic State, which had the effect of a real shock,” he tells us. Amaryllis Quezada, head of communication and advocacy for the ‘Pause’ program, our guest in this edition of Escala in Paris.
The Collège de France is a public institution created 491 years ago, in 1530, with a double vocation: to be a place that promotes more open research and at the same time the dissemination of this ideology. In addition, its access is free.
The ‘Pause’ program can be defined as a test of “solidarity, scientific and cultural, which gives financial support to higher education and research and cultural institutions to host scientists and artists who are forced into urgent exile”, Quezada points out.
After the crisis in Syria came that of Turkish university students, who faced massive purges after the 2015 coup attempt.
“The program ‘Pause’ is a true cartography of the political crises in the world”, assures our guest.
“Pause was already receiving Afghan scientists and researchers, but after the Taliban took power we have received a large number of requests from Afghan artists and researchers. At the moment we are accompanying 40 scientists, men and women; 10 are women, a figure that reflects the social reality of access to education in that country, “he says.
This unique program is not limited to helping scientists and artists from Middle Eastern countries. Although most come from Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Palestine, “we have progressively begun to welcome scientists from North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern Europe and also from Latin America. Most come from Venezuela, since the country is facing a generalized humanitarian crisis, also in Brazil after the election of Bolsonaro, Chile, Nicaragua and Haiti. All are subject to political persecution for the content of their investigations, “says Quezada.
In the case of France and, in a general way, Europe, with the increase in anti-immigrant, xenophobic, racist ideologies and forces, how to manage to defend academic freedom in this context?
“The resurgence of far-right ideologies and the dissemination of hate speech is very worrying, and in this sense the ‘Pause’ program tries to contribute to the change of representations about migrants and migrations, about the political sphere but also about public opinion. We want to show that another story is possible, there are alternatives, “he concludes.
.
source https://pledgetimes.com/stopover-in-paris-pause-a-program-to-support-academic-freedom-in-the-world/
Disqus comments