BRISMES Committee on Academic Freedom
The BRISMES Committee on Academic Freedom was set up to monitor and defend academic freedom in the research, study and teaching of Middle East Studies in the UK and anywhere in the world, including in academic institutions in the Middle East and North Africa.
To learn more about how the committee works, please see the Terms of Reference.
The current Chair of the BRISMES Committee on Academic Freedom is Lewis Turner (Senior Lecturer in International Politics, Newcastle University).
Latest Statement/Letter
BRISMES Committee on Academic Freedom Statement on the Dismissal of Professor Michelle Pace
The BRISMES Committee on Academic Freedom (CAF) is profoundly concerned by the dismissal of Professor Michelle Pace from her position as Professor of Global Studies in the Department of Social Sciences and Business at Roskilde University in Denmark. Professor Pace is an internationally recognised expert on areas including EU-Middle East relations, the politics of Palestine/Israel, and Danish immigration policy. She is regularly cited and interviewed by international news media, and has furthermore been a dedicated and successful teacher at the university, becoming the first academic at Roskilde to ever win a student-awarded teaching prize in two consecutive years.
19 October 2026
Previous Statements
Please find here the list of statements published by the Committee on Academic Freedom.
Previous Letters
Please find here the list of public letters published by the Committee on Academic Freedom.
Database of Expertise
The Database of Expertise in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies provides a publicly available list of MENA experts with their research and areas of expertise.
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