Supporting Scholars Under Threat
Since 2016, Global Cornell has led campus and community support for international scholars, students, and human rights defenders whose work puts them at risk in their home countries.
Faculty: Learn how to get help for a scholar at risk.
Scholars: Learn how to apply for the program.
“Lifting up one student will eventually lift up a family and a community. Cornell is doing what it can to help students find a pathway to a degree and a successful career. Similarly, scholars find a welcoming academic community and opportunities to teach and learn with breathing room to burnish a resume and seek longer-term employment and a secure future.”
~Nishi Dhupa, Associate Vice Provost of International Affairs
Campus Involvement
Cornell's work with scholars under threat has brought dozens of students and scholars to campus, including undergraduate and graduate students, academics, writers, journalists, and artists from seven countries. For scholars, a placement at Cornell provides an opportunity to engage in an intellectual and supportive community, collaborate on research, and teach students. For students, we offer access to higher education that is not available in the situations from which they are fleeing.
The Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies and academic departments across campus, hosts visitors during their time at Cornell. Einaudi and campus partners provide a welcoming intellectual community, collaborators and connections, and opportunities to build a sustainable career in the United States.
Scholars currently hosted at Cornell:
- The Einaudi Center's South Asia Program is hosting one Afghan scholar connected to the Department of Natural Resources and one Pakistani scholar connected to the Department of History of Art and Visual Studies.
- The Einaudi Center’s Southeast Asia Program is hosting a scholar from Myanmar connected to the ILR School.
- The Department of Food Science is hosting a scholar from Venezuela.
- The Einaudi Center’s virtual scholar from Cameroon is working with the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. This scholar is based at the University of Cape Town, South Africa.
Virtual Scholars Under Threat
In 2023, Cornell pioneered the Virtual Scholar Under Threat program with IIE-SRF, enabling scholars to anchor near their home regions through a cohosted fellowship with a regional host institution.
(2025–26) Ndoh (Eric) Ndikum is an associate professor of physics (geophysics) and head of the Department of Physics at the University of Bamenda, Cameroon. He uses data involving gravity, electricity, magnetism, and seismic waves to investigate the Earth’s layers. Violence between government forces and Anglophone separatists forced him to leave his country. Ndikum is currently a fellow at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Geoffrey Abers, William and Katherine Snee Professor in Geological Sciences, is Ndikum's virtual collaborator.
(2024–25) Ukrainian literary scholar Oleksandra Shtepenko is participating in a research fellowship at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Poland. Shtepenko visited campus in November. She met with students and participated in Working Across Wartime Borders, a roundtable moderated by Anindita Banerjee (Comparative Literature), Shtepenko's Cornell host and virtual collaborator.
(2023–24) Global Cornell's first virtual scholar, Eugene Nikiforovich, a professor of fluid mechanics at the National Technical University of Ukraine in Kyiv, visited the campus in April. Due to the unrest in Ukraine, he was forced to flee and is currently based in Latvia with support from Cornell and IIE. During his week-long visit, Nikiforovich met with Ukrainian-language students and engineering faculty and students to explore potential partnerships for his renewable energy research.
Read about Supporting Threatened Scholars Through Regional Placements
Broad-Reaching Partnerships
“By partnering with international scholar rescue organizations and local and campus partners, Global Cornell can provide visitors with a safe refuge and welcoming community, professional and educational opportunities, and resources to gain their footing and look ahead.”
~Wendy Wolford, Vice Provost of International Affairs
Global Cornell works closely with the International Institute of Education’s Scholar Rescue Fund (IIE-SRF) to provide sanctuary for scholars at risk of persecution in their home countries. Cornell offers these scholars the opportunity to continue their research and teaching in a welcoming, safe, and supportive scholarly community as they pursue a more permanent situation for themselves and their families. We also work with IIE's Artist Protection Fund (IIE-APF) to offer refuge for threatened artists.
Cornell's global and local partner organizations include:
- IIE-SRF and IIE-APF
- Open Society University Network’s Threatened Scholars Integration Initiative
- Ithaca City of Asylum, an all-volunteer project of the Center for Transformative Action
- Ithaca Welcomes Refugees
Opportunity Network for At-Risk Writers, Artists, Rights Defenders, and Scholars (ONWARDS) is a collaborative effort by civil society groups to support scholars under threat living in the U.S. by providing professional development resources and guidance. This project is locally coordinated by Ithaca City of Asylum and funded by Cornell's Scholars Under Threat initiative, part of Global Cornell.
Connect with their upcoming events and recorded workshops.
"I Carry More Than a Degree"
Khadija Monis ’25 (right) spoke at a graduation celebration dinner that brought together our Afghan students and many of the people on campus who have supported the women since they arrived in December 2021.
Scholars and Students in the News
“Although Afghanistan is situated in a high seismic zone, its vulnerability to earthquakes is affected by other factors,” Noor Ahmad Akhundzadah, a visiting scholar with the South Asia Program.
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Khadija Monis ’25 spoke at a graduation celebration dinner that brought together our Afghan students and people on campus who supported the women since they arrived in December 2021.
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Even before she took office in 2019, Zarifa Ghafari – the youngest and one of the only female mayors to serve in Afghanistan – became a target of the Taliban. She survived multiple assassination attempts, and in 2020, her father was fatally shot outside his home.
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At the IIE-SRF Forum in Brussels, Nishi Dhupa presented a partnership model developed by Cornell and IIE-SRF to offer funding and professional resources to Ukrainian scholars undertaking IIE-SRF fellowships in Eastern Europe.
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Support Us
Many scholars under threat may never return home and need support for research collaborations, new teaching methods, and career opportunities in the U.S. They also require assistance with housing, clothing, and education for their families. Students often need help with tuition, English language skills, academic writing, study skills, cultural adaptation, and essential services like housing, healthcare, and financial navigation.
The SUT initiative is primarily funded by the generosity of donors. To support us, please give a gift today or contact Nishi Dhupa by email or at +1-607-255-8935.