A new partnership will help support the Afghanistan Project at Pitt

The Center for Governance and Markets (CGM) in Pitt’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs is now a member of the Open Society University Network (OSUN).

This partnership between OSUN and CGM’s Afghanistan Project will ensure continued support the program, which was launched in August 2021, shortly after the collapse of the Afghan government.

The Afghanistan Project at CGM allows Afghan scholars and leaders from the policy-making community to continue their work at the University of Pittsburgh. The Threatened Scholar Initiative at OSUN provides fellowships for scholars who cannot remain in their home countries due to threats from authoritarian regimes. The partnership between CGM and OSUN solidifies the Afghanistan Project as a leading hub supporting Afghan scholars in exile.

[Read more about Pitt efforts to relocate Afghan scholars to the U.S.]

“We are so enthusiastic about this partnership with OSUN,” said Carissa Slotterback, dean of Pitt’s Graduate School for Public and International Affairs. “OSUN saw value in ensuring that scholars from Afghanistan can work together and collaborate. It is an honor to host these scholars at GSPIA and we look forward to supporting the important work of the Afghanistan Project.”

Slotterback said the partnership will allow the Afghanistan Project to flourish in the years to come. While it houses traditional academic researchers, the Afghanistan Project is also open to policy professionals such as persecuted journalists, media professionals and policy leaders whose safety is threatened by Taliban rule.

“The important work of the Afghanistan Project at the Center for Governance and Markets is a dream come true,” said Thomas Keenan, director of the Human Rights Program and the Threatened Scholar Initiative at OSUN. “Pitt is creating a hub for threatened scholars and civil society activists to create knowledge in their field and explore visions of an Afghanistan to come.”