Academic Freedom and Critical Thinking as Transnational Rights

While students and scholars in North America and western Europe have taken the right to academic freedom for granted, scholars in other parts of the world are often in more precarious positions. Professor Hoodfar’s own recent arrest, followed by 112 days in Iran’s Evin Prison on charges of “researching and dabbling in feminism,” has made her sharply aware of the extent to which scholars, and the ideal of academic freedom are in danger globally. There is an urgent need to advocate for academic freedom as a transnational right.