Wednesday, February 28, 2024
5:00-6:30 p.m.
Joukowsky Forum (155), 111 Thayer St.
Please email cmes@brown.edu if physical accommodation is needed.
About the Event:
Most universities and colleges pride themselves on protecting academic freedom and free speech rights and observing related norms on their campuses. Yet there are times when the bounds of permissible speech seem to be in flux and basic commitments give way to anxiety, conflict and over-reaction. This talk will provide an overview of the campus climate issues that have arisen nationwide over the course of this academic year, a trend that might well be exacerbated in this calendar year as we move towards a national election season that some view as a litmus test for democracy. Understanding what the mantra “know your rights” means under these conditions is often a challenging task, but one that requires us to return to some fundamentals of the academic enterprise and the pedagogical obligations of the university.
About the Speaker:
Aslı Bâli is professor of law at Yale Law School where she teaches international law subjects. Previously she was a professor at the UCLA School of Law where she was the Founding Faculty Director of the Promise Institute for Human Rights and Director of the UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies. She currently serves as the president of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA). Her research focuses on two broad areas: public international law—including human rights and humanitarian law—and comparative constitutional law, with a focus on the Middle East. Her scholarship has appeared in numerous law and peer-reviewed social science journals and she is co-editor of two volumes addressing different facets of institutional design and comparative constitutional law from Cambridge University Press. She is also co-chair of the Advisory Council for the Middle East and North Africa Division of Human Rights Watch and a non-resident fellow of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.
Aslı Bâli will be in conversation with Nadje Al-Ali, Robert Family Professor of International Studies, Professor of Anthropology and Middle East Studies, Director of the Center for Middle East Studies.