{"id":575,"date":"2025-05-28T03:13:39","date_gmt":"2025-05-28T03:13:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/scholars-at-risk\/?p=575"},"modified":"2025-05-28T03:13:39","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T03:13:39","slug":"panelists-emphasize-need-to-spread-knowledge-awareness-to-build-support-networks-for-displaced-scholars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/scholars-at-risk\/2025\/05\/28\/panelists-emphasize-need-to-spread-knowledge-awareness-to-build-support-networks-for-displaced-scholars\/","title":{"rendered":"Panelists emphasize need to spread knowledge, awareness to build support networks for displaced scholars"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Panelists at the conference discussed the enormous challenges facing displaced scholars attempting to continue their careers as teachers and researchers. The session included (left to right) McMaster University professor Tony Porter, McMaster PhD candidate Marufa Shinwari, Dr. Evren Altinkas, an adjunct history professor at the University of Guelph, uOttawa professor Christina Clark-Kazak, IDRC project research coordinator Dr. Elham Gharji and moderator James Milner, professor of political science at Carleton University. [Photo \u00a9 Conference News Team]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For many displaced and at-risk scholars who find themselves in Canada, the goal of advancing their academic careers \u2014 or even maintaining a hold on employment as a teacher and researcher \u2014  faces significant barriers. The theme was at the heart of a panel discussion Thursday at the Safe Havens and Knowledge Networks in Canada conference at Carleton University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Evren Altinkas, an adjunct history professor at the University of Guelph, was forced to give up his professorship and leave his home country of Turkey after participating in an anti-government protest. He spoke compellingly about the harsh realities of pursuing an academic life as a displaced scholar in Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Altinkas informally surveyed fellow panel members and conference attendees, many of whom are full-time professors at Canadian universities, asking how many classes they taught during the 2024-25 academic year. None had taught more than four.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Dr. Evren Altinkas, who teaches history at the University of Guelph, Wilfrid Laurier University and Trent University, described his journey from tenured professor in Turkey to displaced scholar to contract instructor in Canada who taught 15 courses in the 2024-25 academic year to make ends meet. [Photo \u00a9 Conference News Team]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cI taught 15 classes in three universities,\u201d said Altinkas, drawing gasps from the crowd. He also works as a contract instructor at Waterloo-based Wilfrid Laurier University and Trent University in Peterborough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBack in Turkey, when I was getting my PhD, I was taught one thing: Publish or perish for the tenure-track position. Thirteen years ago, I was publishing three articles a year, but since 2013, I only published two articles because I (only) had time during the summer to do my research.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, Altinkas\u2019s story is not uncommon in the global scholars-at-risk community. And it’s a clear illustration of the inequity that initiatives such as the Safe Havens conference \u2014 and the many scholars-at-risk projects and institutions showcased at the May 22-23 event \u2014 are aiming to address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of those initiatives is the Placement, Preservation and Perseverance program, or PPP as it\u2019s better known. A collaboration between the Ottawa-based International Development Research Centre \u2014 key funder of the project \u2014 and the University of British Columbia and Carleton University, PPP supports displaced and at-risk Afghan scholars and activists whose lives and careers have been thrown into turmoil because of the ongoing political and social upheaval in the Central Asian nation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The IDRC project research coordinator, Dr. Elham Gharji, teaches in Carleton\u2019s Law and Legal Studies Department and joined Altinkas and four others for the panel discussion: Dr. Christina Clark-Kazak, University of Ottawa professor of public and international affairs; McMaster University political science professor Tony Porter; McMaster PhD candidate Marufa Shinwari; and moderator James Milner, Carleton political science professor and director of LERRN: The Local Engagement Refugee Research Network, a 7-year, SSHRC-funded partnership between researchers and civil society actors primarily in Canada, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon and Tanzania.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Christina Clark-Kazak, University of Ottawa professor of Public and International Affairs, spoke during an afternoon session of the Safe Havens and Knowledge Networks in Canada conference at Carleton University on May 22. [Photo \u00a9 Conference News Team]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Echoing the lessons of the personal story shared by Altinkas, Gharji emphasized that displacement frequently leads to global knowledge loss. \u201cThe focus is on preserving knowledge networks, not in terms of \u2018brain drain\u2019 and \u2018brain gain,\u2019 because the brain drain (elsewhere) does not necessarily translate into brain gain here in Canada or in the Global North,\u201d said Gharji. \u201cWhat happens is actually a brain loss, because the vast majority of displaced scholars never get the opportunity to work in the sectors that they want to work in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no simple answer to the complex issues facing at-risk scholars, but to Porter, solutions are easier to find with a people-oriented approach. He describes a vision of creating a \u201cnetwork or platform that\u2019s more centered not on the institutions, but on the people who are being displaced.\u201d Porter said a model with that focus could lead to benefits such as \u201cpublishing opportunities, paid work for teaching research or other contracts, educational opportunities, and sharing of information on existing things in an archive for artists or other researchers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A more personal approach could also help combat another major issue that was highlighted by Shinwari. \u201cDisplacement of scholars is not only physically displaced actors,\u201d she said. \u201cEspecially Afghan women scholars \u2014 they are (often) mentally displaced. They cannot continue thinking of their research or studies because of the turmoil and situation they are in.\u201d Shinwari said that providing opportunities for displaced scholars to connect amongst themselves can help build a sense of community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘The focus is on preserving knowledge networks, not in terms of \u2018brain drain\u2019 and \u2018brain gain,\u2019 because the brain drain (elsewhere) does not necessarily translate into brain gain here in Canada or in the Global North. What happens is actually a brain loss, because the vast majority of displaced scholars never get the opportunity to work in the sectors that they want to work in.’<\/p>\u2014 Dr. Elham Gharji, IDRC project research coordinator<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Easing access to higher education for displaced scholars \u2014 both students and more senior researchers \u2014 can help foster those connections. That is a central mission of UnborderED Knowledge, a University of Ottawa-led initiative. The project seeks to widen, deepen and institutionalize equitable access to education and research opportunities by focusing on three areas: Institutional opportunities and barriers, lived experiences of displaced students and research done by displaced scholars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Panelist Christina Clark-Kazak, uOttawa professor of Public and International Affairs, left, and moderator and Carleton professor James Milner (right), listen to Dr. Elham Gharji, a Carleton instructor and PPP project research coordinator with the International Development Research Centre. [Photo \u00a9 Conference News Team]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

UnborderED Knowledge is led by Clark-Kazak, who said her research demonstrates the need for a change in thinking about the place of displaced scholars in Canadian academia, unlocking valuable academic research and insights that are currently being left on the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s about changing the mind frame of not looking at it simply as a humanitarian effort,\u201d Clark-Kazak said of the global effort to support scholars at risk. \u201cRather, recognize colleagues with knowledge and experience that we should be actively using.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For many displaced and at-risk scholars who find themselves in Canada, the goal of advancing their academic careers \u2014 or even maintaining a hold on employment as a teacher and researcher \u2014  faces significant barriers. The theme was at the heart of a panel discussion Thursday at the Safe Havens and Knowledge Networks in Canada … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":546,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/scholars-at-risk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/scholars-at-risk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/scholars-at-risk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/scholars-at-risk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/scholars-at-risk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=575"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/scholars-at-risk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":710,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/scholars-at-risk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/575\/revisions\/710"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/scholars-at-risk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/scholars-at-risk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/scholars-at-risk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/scholars-at-risk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}