In this bonus episode, Ana Filipa Vrdoljak speaks with Rob Quinn, executive director of Scholars at Risk, about the international network's work protecting the human rights of threatened scholars and defending academic freedom. Founded in 1999 at the University of Chicago by a group of academics moved by a radio interview with an exiled scholar, Scholars at Risk now spans more than 650 member institutions in over 40 countries. Quinn traces how the organisation's work has grown from offering individual fellowships to campaigning against wrongful imprisonment, monitoring attacks on higher education, and building international legal standards for academic freedom.
The conversation connects directly to Vrdoljak's own research: an Australian Research Council-funded project on the European émigré lawyers who fled fascism in the 1930s and 40s and found refuge in Australia, soon to be released as the podcast series Emergency Exit. Quinn and Vrdoljak discuss the parallels between that earlier era and today's, the crucial distinction between academic freedom and free speech, and the stories of scholars including Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, imprisoned for defending women protesting Iran's mandatory hijab laws, whose cases show what is at stake when that freedom is denied.
Voices
Ana Filipa Vrdoljak is UTS Professor of Law and the UNESCO Chair in International Law and Cultural Heritage. She is co-coordinator of the UNESCO-UNITWIN Network on Culture in Emergencies.
Robert Quinn is Executive Director of Scholars at Risk. He hosts the Free to Think podcast.
Further reading and listening
'Fighting to Protect - and Define - Academic Freedom' by Robert Quinn
Find out about the work of Scholars at Risk and how you can contribute here.
To listen to the ‘Free to Think’ podcast link through here.
Credits
This episode was recorded on Gadigal Land, in Sydney. It was recorded by Siobhan Moylan and edited by BLAH.
Emergency Exit was supported by funding from the Australian Research Council.
History Lab is an Impact Studios podcast. Its executive producer is Dr Sarah Gilbert.
