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
The British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES) Committee on Academic Freedom condemns the Israeli attack on Lebanon’s only public institution of higher education, the Lebanese University (LU), on 12 March 2026. The attack resulted in the killing of two senior faculty members: Professor Hussein Bazi, Director of the Faculty of Sciences, and Professor Mortada Srour, Professor of Chemistry and Physics. This incident raises grave concerns regarding the protection of academic institutions, scholars, and intellectual life in contexts of armed conflict.
At this critical moment for the Middle East, with consequences that are reverberating globally, BRISMES CAF reaffirms its commitment to defending academic life, intellectual freedom, and the right of students and scholars to live, learn, and teach in conditions of safety and dignity. We call for an immediate end to US and Israeli aggression on Lebanon and Iran and a full arms embargo on Israel.
2 April 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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