You have /5 articles left.
Sign up for a free account or log in.
The faculty of New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute have voted to suspend the institute’s relationship with the university’s campus in Abu Dhabi due to their “dismay” over the denial of visas to two NYU professors who planned to teach there, according to a letter signed by 17 faculty that one of the signatories posted on social media. One of the NYU professors who was denied a visa to teach in Abu Dhabi, Mohammad Bazzi, wrote in a Sept. 26 op-ed in The New York Times that he believes the likely reason for the denial was his religious affiliation. Bazzi, a Shite Muslim originally from Lebanon and a tenured journalism professor at NYU, had been planning to teach a journalism course at the Abu Dhabi campus this fall.
“We have not been given an explanation for the denial of these visas, but if it was for reasons of religious affiliation…or because of our colleagues’ writing and research, it would represent a significant threat to academic freedom on that campus," the letter from the journalism faculty says.
The letter addressed to NYU President Andrew Hamilton states further: “since a member of our faculty has been prohibited from teaching at NYU Abu Dhabi, the Carter Journalism Institute is not prepared to continue its relationship with NYUAD. Our faculty, a number of whose members have made the trip to NYUAD or taught courses there, voted unanimously at its last meeting to suspend the Institute's participation in the academic program in Abu Dhabi until these issues are satisfactorily resolved.”
The NYU administration has previously said that it would "continue to press for the free flow of scholars across our global network" of campuses but that it disagrees with the conclusions of Bazzi's op-ed. The university said in a Sept. 26 statement that NYU Abu Dhabi has "faculty, students, and staff are from well over 100 countries, representing a broad collection of faiths – including those identifying as Sh’ia."
