Rethinking Research Under Threat
Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili, director, Pitt Center for Governance and Markets, and nonresident scholar, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Over the past 20 years that Murtazashvili has been conducting research in Afghanistan, she has witnessed an academic community grow from almost nothing to the most vibrant in the region. Afghani scholars advocated for academic freedom to form a diverse community in response to the region’s most crucial issues. After the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August 2021, Murtazashvili worked to bring six Afghan scholars and their families to the University of Pittsburgh, with several more on the way. She gained needed support of key partners, including the Institute of International Education’s Scholar Rescue Fund, Atlas Network and donors.
Recognizing the success of the rapid response, the prestigious Open Society University Network invited the center she leads, the Center for Governance and Markets, to join it, ensuring longer-term support of these scholars.
“Scholarship does not happen alone. It happens in communities. This effort is Pitt’s effort to preserve threatened intellectual communities so they can thrive into the future.”