Press Release
Contact: |
Arnita A. Jones |
Date: |
June 4, 2007 |
Subject: |
AHA Supports the the Middle East Studies Association's Protest of the Detention of Scholars in Iran |
For Immediate Release
At its biennial meeting on Sunday June 3, 2007, the AHA Council endorsed endorsed the recent letter from the Middle East Studies Association on the detention of scholars in Iran, and issued the following statement:
We, the members of the Council of the American Historical Association, write to express our support for the recent statements issued by the Middle East Studies Association protesting the arrests and detention of Dr. Haleh Esfandiari and Dr. Kian Tajbakhsh. As Council members of an organization dedicated to academic freedom and free scholarly exchange, we are deeply disturbed by the Iranian government's actions in this matter and join our colleagues in MESA in calling for the immediate release of Dr. Esfandiari and Dr. Tajbakhsh.
The American Historical Association is the oldest and largest professional historical organization in the United States, bringing together nearly 5,000 institutions and more than 14,000 individuals, including college and university faculty, public historians, independent scholars, archivists, librarians, and secondary school teachers. The Association was organized in 1884 and chartered by the United States Congress in 1889; its establishment coincided with the professionalization of history as a discipline in the United States. Over the years, the Association has changed as the discipline and profession have changed, but its central mission has remained unaltered: the advancement of historical knowledge.
To meet and address the varied needs of its members, the Association publishes the American Historical Review, the major journal of record for the historical profession in the United States, and Perspectives, the major national news monthly of the profession. The Association's annual meeting, which is held during the first week of January, is the largest annual gathering of historians in the United States.
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Last Updated: July 18, 2007
