APLA Taskforce on Academic Freedom

Letter from APLA President: Call for Action and Help

March 21, 2025

Dear APLA Members and Friends, 

As you know, these are unprecedented and scary times in US higher education, with ongoing attacks on academic freedom, the targeting of non-citizen students and faculty, sweeping cuts to research funding, and the evisceration of institutional commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion. In January 2025, APLA instituted a taskforce on academic freedom. The taskforce emerged directly from discussions held during our online business meeting at the American Anthropological Association Annual Meetings in 2024, and a special event we hosted in Tampa, with a representative of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), on how to respond to right-wing backlash against higher education and freedom of speech. As the section of the AAA devoted to the critical study of law and politics, we have the responsibility, expertise, and resources to help prepare for and address the ongoing attacks on anthropologists and the encroaching climate of fear that we all now face. 

While our focus is currently on the United States, we are collaborating actively with the European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA), and members of our taskforce have experience and networks in other countries where threats to academic freedom have been pervasive. Our work is ongoing, and it is often slow; to provide reliable, vetted information and resources takes time and care. Still, as the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil makes very clear, more and more people will be targeted for speaking out against injustices abroad and domestically, and their work has been under attack both inside and outside the classroom. Livelihoods are at stake, as is the entire ecosystem of knowledge, critical thinking, and learning. 

We want to do our part to help preserve what anthropology—at its best–brings to the table: the study and appreciation of human diversity in all its forms, an attention to the nuances of human lived experiences, and a mode of questioning and critiquing the status quo that aims to build a more inclusive, just, and sustainable world. Indeed, it is for these very values that our field is being targeted. 

The following are some of the initiatives of our taskforce, as well as specific calls for participation, information, and assistance. This is not just an announcement but also a request. If you, or someone you know, might be able to contribute to some of these initiatives, we ask you to contact us (contact information below). The taskforce has three primary goals: providing information and resources that will empower people to protect themselves and others; documenting attacks; and, eventually we hope, providing active and individualized mentoring and advising. 

Informational initiatives underway: 

• Hosting events and discussions to enable the exchange of information and views on threats to vulnerable groups, on advocacy initiatives, and best practices. Recently, APLA hosted two online events in this vein: one focused on the inauguration; and another focused on threats to migrants, non-citizens, and permanent residents. This spring, we plan to organize a virtual “know your rights” and best practices event for those who have experienced (or might experience) attacks. 

• Curating informational resources on rights, best practices, and due process: We are currently working to develop a more streamlined set of resources. But given the emergent nature of attacks on higher education, and the patchwork way in which threats and legal defense will play out, it is impossible to produce a “one size fits all” set of resources. We hope this initial set of resources will be useful. 

If you have feedback, requests, or additional resources or ideas, regarding either of these first initiatives, please contact Anand Vaidya: avaidya@reed.edu.  

Documentary initiatives also underway:

• Drafting report on the specific threats anthropologists face: This extensive report will be updated as situations change and emerge. 

• Documenting stories of attacks on anthropologists: We aim to collect accounts and stories of people who have experienced threats to their academic freedom or who have come under attack in other ways. Some of our work might entail amplifying existing reports, but we also hope to collect accounts as they emerge. We will be circulating an invitation or call for assistance in this work in the very near future. 

If you, or someone you know, might be interested in talking to our taskforce about their experiences of being attacked or targeted, please reach out. Of course, we will be collecting these stories in ways that respect authorship and privacy.

If you would like to contribute to this effort, contact Carol Henderson: cehender96@gmail.com

The following initiatives truly depend on you, our APLA network:

• Mentoring network: We are starting to build a network of APLA members with long term expertise and knowledge in higher education who are willing to mentor those encountering threats to their academic freedom or related challenges. If you would like to join our network of mentors, please get in touch. We seek mentors who can commit to taking on one or two mentees at a time, and who have extensive experience and knowledge of institutional and/or legal realities in higher education. 

• Advice Clinic: We would like to build a network of legal professionals who are willing to provide generalized advice on next steps for those who do experience threats. This would not entail delivering formal legal advice but, rather, sharing know-how and best practices. We understand that this is a difficult goal, and we do not know how feasible it is. But according to our collaborator at the AAUP, this is perhaps the most impactful thing we could do as an association. If you know of an organization, an individual, or other resources relevant to building such an advice clinic, please contact: Heath Cabot: heath.cabot@uib.no

Thank you in advance for your help.

Heath Cabot, APLA President 2024-2026