Thursday, October 22, 2015

Knight Library Browsing Room

7:00pm

Towards a Shared Israeli/Palestinian Academic Freedom:

A Constructive Appeal Facing the Pro/Anti Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Campus Cleavages

Professor Edward “Edy” Kaufman has served both as the Director of the Center for International Development and Conflict Management at the University of Maryland and the Truman Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He concurrently teaches at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, Haifa University, and the Department of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland. He is the Singer Scholar in Residence at the University of Oregon Fall 2015.

After decades of violent conflict, academics and intellectuals globally and in our respective societies renew our hope that Palestinian and Israeli institutions of higher learning can fulfill our social responsibility and contribute to a just peace and academic freedom. It is understood that instances of internecine fighting and prolonged occupation have instilled a sense of disillusionment on both sides, and this frustration has often manifested itself in calls for boycotting all forms of cooperation with the other, including academic collaboration.