Activism for Academic Freedom: students taking a stand for global scholars | Monash

"Across 12 weeks this hands-on unit gave me the freedom to explore honest, vulnerable, heartbreaking experiences, extending far beyond any academic opportunity I’ve had before. Our team worked tirelessly to organise a public speaker panel on hostage diplomacy and human rights abuses in Iran. To reach this milestone there were countless complexities to overcome - event resource access, social media campaigning, event planning but most significantly understanding specific case contexts and communicating their vulnerabilities with respect and in a real but positive-advocacy form. It allowed us to freely create our own mission, something incredibly rare during university. Simultaneously, the consistent guidance from our tutors created a healthy space where we could positively question our decisions to achieve immediate results.

The courage, insight and lived life experience of guests Ek Taghdir, Sara Kowal, and Kylie Moore-Gilbert left a profound impression on all of us. ATS3950 wasn’t just a unit, it was activism in action. We weren’t studying issues from a distance; we were engaging with them directly, raising awareness, and building real-world advocacy skills with people and groups in the thick of it. It connected us with Melbourne’s Iranian community — a group whose warmth and passion I deeply admire. For the first time in my degree, it felt I was doing work that could make a difference beyond the classroom.

With this advocacy came urgency, purpose, independence and responsibility. These four traits are interdisciplinary, ones that have driven myself to explore and make positive environmental impacts within Melbourne’s construction field. Without them we lose touch in our own belief and “why” factor, two important requirements when working in a hard-fought and real environment. A stand-alone experience that pushed me past my academic boundaries and fast forwarded my leadership development like no other."

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Nicholas Alexopoulos 2023 A4AF Class

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"Activism for Academic Freedom (ATS3950) was by far one of the most enriching and enjoyable units I had the opportunity to undertake at university. It gave me the opportunity to engage in practical, hands-on learning where the theory I had studied in my human rights specialisation was brought vividly to life. Alongside a group of passionate and committed students - the kind of learners this unit naturally attracts, I gained insight into urgent, real-time global issues, especially those at the heart of academia.

With Tony and Kate’s knowledge, expertise, and encouragement, we moved beyond standard lectures into more active, hands-on learning. Our weekly discussions were always invigorating and thoughtful, and through this, we formed genuine connections - not only with one another but also with organisations like Scholars at Risk (SAR).

Working directly with SAR, our team developed advocacy campaigns for academics facing human rights abuses. This partnership gave us invaluable industry experience, opportunities to network, and the freedom to be creative with our work.

My group hosted a panel that engaged meaningfully with the Iranian activist community, an experience that was both rewarding and professionally valuable, especially as I was actively pursuing aspirations to build a career in advocacy and make a meaningful contribution to social justice in my personal life. The skills and campaign strategies I developed in ATS3950 have been foundational in my professional life since graduating. In the various community engagement, communications, and advocacy roles I’ve taken on at the Parliament of Victoria, I regularly draw on what I learned to communicate complex political issues effectively and to support large-scale campaigns. I’d gladly take this unit again, and I’d recommend it to anyone wanting to be professionally competitive after uni, while also deepening their personal understanding, compassion, and broader perspective of the world."

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Jovi Rabino (A4AF 2024 cohort)

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"As Director of Eleos Justice at Monash Law, I have had the privilege of collaborating with the Activism for academic freedom unit in the Arts Faculty on several occasions over recent years. This initiative represents an outstanding model of transformative pedagogy.

By its very nature, students are required to be active learners. Through its innovative assessment structure, students assume the roles of activists, using evidence-based research to support advocacy across human rights issues. The unit’s partnership with Scholars at Risk ensures that all the assessment outputs generate real-world impact.

I have watched several cohorts focus on the case of Dr Ahmadreza Djalali, an Iranian-Swedish physician and academic on death row in Iran. Through this case, students have engaged with international human rights frameworks, the geopolitics of hostage diplomacy and Iran’s practice of the death penalty. They have taken this case and amplified it though online campaigns, podcast interviews, and public panel events. I have had the opportunity to speak on several panels, including one with Dr. Kylie Moore-Gilbert and another with Nos Hosseini, an Iranian human rights activist who gave her first-hand account of feminist activism in Iran to audiences of around 100 attendees. I have witnessed the students' dedication consistently exceed our already high expectations – one group notably secured a statement from the wife of Dr Djalali, which was able to be amplified in their collective advocacy. A former student of this Unit was so moved that she has been an ongoing anti-death penalty volunteer with Eleos Justice.

This Unit integrates ethical practice, evidence-based research, policy design, and creativity. It demonstrates how academic learning can directly contribute to social justice while developing students' professional skills and personal commitment to human rights advocacy."

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Adam Braver - Student Advocacy Seminar Coordinator, Scholars at Risk

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"It is with sincerity that I write in support of the Activism for Academic Freedom’s nomination for The Future Builder Award.

In my role as Student Advocacy Seminar Coordinator for Scholars at Risk, I have been working with the unit for the past three years. The faculty passion and commitment for student engagement and learning, combined with the students’ passion and commitment to be voices for unjustly detained scholars and the larger principle of academic freedom, is moving and commendable.

For context, the Student Advocacy Seminars is a program within Scholars at Risk that provides university students with the opportunity to develop skills in campaigning for human rights and academic freedom through direct engagement on behalf of threatened members of the global higher education community. The Advocacy Team at Scholars at Risk view the students as partners in this shared work, and quite often look to student initiatives for strategies and/or recommendations for work in the SAR office or with future Seminars.

In the Monash students, one can see a deep level of research and evaluation; development of often very creative advocacy strategies and their implementation; and analysis of successes and failures in their work.

There is also the intangible of compassion. It is clear that for the majority of the students this is not just a “class project,” but instead one in which they recognize the stakes of a real-world situation vis-à-vis a living person, thus learning through experience. It is typical that when family members may learn of the specific activities taking place at Monash, they will express deep gratitude for the work being done, something that at its core brings a global humanity to the defense of the core values of higher education.

In short, the work being done at Monash has been remarkable, and each term we are honored to have a new cohort of students as part of the Scholars at Risk Advocacy Team. For me, an easy recommendation to stand behind."

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Sara Kowal‍