SEA Coalition for Academic Freedom

📣 [UPCOMING WEBINAR SESSION | AUGUST 27, 2026]

When knowledge comes under attack, academic freedom matters more than ever!

Register at bit.ly/AFinAsia and join us for “Understanding the Threats to Academic Freedom in Asia and How We Fight Back” on 27 August 2026, 2:00–4:00 PM (GMT+7, Bangkok) as we explore the principles of academic freedom and provide capacity-building opportunities for our members and academics from across the region.

Resource Speakers:

🌿 NANDINI SUNDAR
Professor of Sociology
Delhi School of Economics
Member, India Academic Freedom Network

🌿 RAFIQA QURRATA A'YU
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, Universitas Indonesia
2025-26 Academic Freedom Fellow, Mellon/Scholars at Risk

📌 Register to join: bit.ly/AFinAsia
📌 Register to join: bit.ly/AFinAsia

In the webinar, will examine the challenges shaping higher education and research across Asia, as well as the diverse political, legal, and institutional contexts that affect our freedom to learn, teach, research, and question.

Learn more and become a member of SEACAF: https://seacaf.org/member/

📣 ขอเชิญร่วมงานสัมมนาออนไลน์
“ความยุติธรรมกับระเบียบราชการในมหาวิทยาลัย”

ขอเชิญผู้สนใจร่วมรับฟังและแลกเปลี่ยนความคิดเห็นในประเด็นสำคัญเกี่ยวกับความยุติธรรมในระบบราชการและการทำงานในมหาวิทยาลัย อาทิ สิทธิในการจัดตั้งสหภาพแรงงาน และ การบังคับเกษียณอายุ รวมถึงประเด็นที่เกี่ยวข้องกับสิทธิและสวัสดิการของบุคลากรในมหาวิทยาลัย

🗓️ วันอาทิตย์นี้
💻 ผ่านระบบ Zoom

ขอเชิญทุกท่านร่วมสนับสนุนพื้นที่สำหรับการสนทนาและแลกเปลี่ยนในประเด็นสำคัญเหล่านี้ หากสะดวก ขอเชิญเข้าร่วมรับฟัง และร่วมประชาสัมพันธ์งานสัมมนานี้ต่อไป เพื่อขยายพื้นที่การพูดคุยและการมีส่วนร่วมให้กว้างขวางยิ่งขึ้น

ร่วมกันสนับสนุนพื้นที่แห่งการเรียนรู้ แลกเปลี่ยน และสร้างความเข้าใจเรื่องความยุติธรรมในมหาวิทยาลัย ✨

[UPCOMING WEBINAR SESSION | AUGUST 27, 2026]

When knowledge comes under attack, academic freedom matters more than ever!

Join us for “Understanding the Threats to Academic Freedom in Asia and How We Fight Back” on 27 August 2026, 2:00–4:00 PM (GMT+7, Bangkok) as we explore the principles of academic freedom and provide capacity-building opportunities for our members and academics from across the region.

🌿 Register to join: bit.ly/AFinAsia
🌿 Register to join: bit.ly/AFinAsia
🌿 Register to join: bit.ly/AFinAsia

In the webinar, will examine the challenges shaping higher education and research across Asia, as well as the diverse political, legal, and institutional contexts that affect our freedom to learn, teach, research, and question.

Learn more and become a member of SEACAF: https://seacaf.org/member/

📣 International Youth Day: Different Contexts, Common Aspirations

Young people bring tremendous energy, creativity, and intellect to shaping and serving society. Yet, our aspirations for a better future cannot be separated from the spaces where we learn, question, and engage with the world around us.

This International Youth Day, SEACAF calls on young people across the region to stand in solidarity with professors, lecturers, teachers, and educators whose academic freedom is under threat. While we may come from different contexts and face different realities, our aspirations are shared: to uphold academic freedom, ensure that human rights are respected, protected, and fulfilled, and advance critical education as a public good in service of the people.

Let us stand together across generations and contexts to defend classrooms, campuses, and communities as spaces where free thought, critical inquiry, dialogue, and the pursuit of knowledge can flourish. Across Southeast Asia, our contexts may be different, but our aspirations for freedom, dignity, and an education that serves the people remain a shared responsibility and a shared mission.

To become a member, visit https://seacaf.org/member/

🎨 The Long Wait Has Finally Come to an End: Announcing the Winners of Artivism for Academic Freedom! ✨

After weeks of anticipation, creativity, and thoughtful submissions from young artists across Southeast Asia, the wait is finally over!

The Southeast Asia Coalition for Academic Freedom (SEACAF) is delighted to announce the winners of Artivism for Academic Freedom, launched as part of International Academic Freedom Month under the theme: Reimagining Freedom: Southeast Asian Youth for Creative Expression and Critical Thinking.

Through their artworks, participants explored the meaning of academic freedom and shared powerful reflections on creativity, critical inquiry, freedom of expression, and the role of young people in shaping more open and inclusive societies.

After careful review and deliberation by the Selection Committee, we are proud to announce the selected winners:

🏆 1st Place | Jonathan A. Mercado

🏆 2nd Place | Alquien Engaling Capuyan

🏆 3rd Place | Edsell L. Abelilla

🌟 Special Prize Award | Ramayat Charis C. Selva

Congratulations to all our winners! 🎉 The SEACAF Secretariat will be reaching out to the selected winners separately via email to coordinate the prize details and next steps.

We would also like to express our heartfelt gratitude to the members of the Review and Selection Committee for their invaluable time, expertise, and thoughtful assessment in helping us recognize the outstanding creativity and perspectives shared through this initiative.

Our deepest appreciation also goes to all participants who contributed their voices and imagination through art. Each submission reflected the diverse ways young people understand, envision, and advocate for academic freedom in Southeast Asia, which will also be featured in regional events in the coming months ✨

✊ Academic freedom begins with the freedom to organize.

Freedom of association isn't just a labor right—it's a cornerstone of academic freedom. Scholars, students, and educators can only push back against repression, and build power together, when they can freely form organizations, unions, coalitions, and networks without fear of reprisal. Protecting this right isn't optional; it's how every other freedom gets defended and maximized.

🌏 Founded in 2024, the Southeast Asia Coalition for Academic Freedom (SEACAF) brings together individuals and institutions committed to advancing and protecting academic freedom across Southeast Asia.

🤝 Join a growing regional community of scholars, educators, students, researchers, and advocates working together to protect academic freedom.

Upcoming Orientation and General Assembly this August 2026!

📌 JOIN THE COALITION. BE PART OF THE MOVEMENT.

🔗 Become a member today: bit.ly/SEACAFMembership

🎨 Artivism for Academic Freedom – Artwork Competition Update

The submission review and selection process is now underway! We sincerely thank everyone across Southeast Asia who shared their creativity and vision through this year's competition.

Our panel is carefully reviewing each submission, with selected artists to be announced on July 31.

The Artivism for Academic Freedom program is a regional creative advocacy initiative by the Southeast Asia Coalition for Academic Freedom (SEACAF), using visual art to champion the right to learn, teach, research, and express ideas freely. This year's competition invited 2D visual artworks from across Southeast Asia, with prizes of up to 10,000 Baht.

While you wait for the results, stay connected with SEACAF for more youth engagement opportunities, campaigns, and creative initiatives that promote academic freedom across the region.

Selected artworks may also be featured in SEACAF's mobile exhibitions, publications, advocacy campaigns, and IEC (Information, Education, and Communication) materials, helping amplify powerful voices for academic freedom throughout Southeast Asia.

Thank you once again to everyone who participated, and best of luck to all our students, young people and artists!

⏰ 6 HOURS TO GO! ⏰

SEACAF Research Fellowships on Academic Freedom in Southeast Asia (2026–2027 Cohort)

📢 This is your FINAL CALL — applications close in just 6 hours!

✨ Apply now: 🌱 https://seacaf.org/fellowship2026/

Are you researching academic freedom in your institution or at the regional level in Southeast Asia? SEACAF is offering six research fellowships for early-career researchers and practitioners.

This fellowship is designed for individuals committed to studying, documenting, and advancing academic freedom in Southeast Asia. It provides a platform for producing context-sensitive, action-oriented research that contributes to both scholarship and practice.

Founded in late 2024, SEACAF works to defend and promote academic freedom across the region. Building on strong regional networks of scholars engaged in human rights education and research, SEACAF collaborates with and strengthens national networks and associations of academics committed to defending democracy, human rights, and academic freedom.

💰 USD 12,000–15,000 stipend
🗓️ 10–12-month research fellowship
📍 Three research themes: Neoliberal Higher Education, Regional Academic Freedom Indicators, and Participatory Action Research
⏰ Application deadline: TODAY, 20 July 2026 — only 6 hours left!

🌱 Don't miss your chance — apply now: https://seacaf.org/fellowship2026/
🌱 To become a coalition member, visit: https://seacaf.org/member/

🌿 2026 Research Fellowship Call | Theme 3: Participatory Action Research for Training Modules on Academic Freedom

How can training on academic freedom be designed so it actually reflects the needs and realities of the communities it's meant to serve — rather than being delivered top-down?

Through participatory action research (PAR) — a method where research is done with communities, not on them.

Under this theme, the fellow will collaborate directly with academic communities and student groups to co-develop training modules and educational materials on academic freedom, then test and refine them through participatory workshops. The result: training shaped by the very people who will use it, grounded in their lived experiences and contexts.

🌿 Researchers may receive up to USD 12,000 for individual or team research projects, with a 10–12-month fellowship to carry out their work.

Research under the fellowship focuses on three priority themes:
Neoliberal Higher Education and Its Impacts on Academic Freedom
Regional Academic Freedom Indicators
Participatory Action Research

Note: For this cohort, 6 fellows will be chosen and granted with research support. Proposals outside these themes are also welcome but will be given lower priority.

🌿 Application Deadline: 20 July 2026
Learn more and apply: https://seacaf.org/fellowship2026/

Where knowledge and truth defy fear | Be part of building a region where knowledge is free, critical, and in service of the public good.

Join the movement to protect and promote academic freedom across Southeast Asia, be a member through https://seacaf.org/member/

📢 ONE MORE DAY TO GO! 🎨

There's still time to showcase your creativity and make your voice heard! ✨

The Artivism for Academic Freedom Programme has extended its Call for Applications until:

🗓 20 July 2026 (11:59 PM, Bangkok Time)

🏆 Win up to 10,000 Baht by submitting your 2D visual artwork that explores the theme of academic freedom. Whether you're an artist, student, academic, or advocate, this is your opportunity to transform ideas into powerful visual stories that inspire dialogue, defend human rights, and promote academic freedom across Southeast Asia.

🌿 Updated Timeline

📌 Extended Call for Applications: 4–20 July 2026
📌 New Submission Deadline: 20 July 2026
📌 Selection & Eligibility Screening: 21–27 July 2026
📌 Announcement of Winners: 28 July 2026
📌 Exhibition of Selected Artworks: Following the announcement

🎨 Don't miss your chance to:
✨ Win up to 10,000 Baht
✨ Have your artwork featured in a regional exhibition
✨ Use your creativity to amplify conversations on academic freedom and human rights across Southeast Asia

Submit your artwork before the deadline and be part of a growing movement where art becomes a powerful form of advocacy and social change.