Applications Open for Faculty Mobility Fellowships
OSUN faculty can apply to teach courses at OSUN partner institutions and collaborate on course design research, with an emphasis on applicants from under-resourced OSUN institutions. Info sessions in September and October.
Call for Proposals: Southern Perspectives on Transformational Interventions and Leadership
OSUN and BRAC University are seeking proposals for new project research that will focus on Southern initiatives and leaderships that have sought or are seeking transformations in the lives of their communities. Deadline: October 15, 2023
Liberal Arts Program at Smolny College in Russia Will End
The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that the liberal-studies program at Smolny College in Russia will be shuttered two years after its key international partner, OSUN co-founder Bard College, was barred from working in the country.Read more
Applications Open for Six OSUN Certificate Programs
Applications are now open for undergraduate students to apply for OSUN Academic Certificate programs in Civic Engagement, Global Educational Development, Public Policy and Economic Analysis, Human Rights, Social Enterprise and Leading Change, and Food Studies.
The “Shameless Hatred” Behind Attacks on Gender, Academia
Alt New College’s inaugural lecture about authoritarian assaults on gender studies, given by Judith Butler and Masha Gessen, was reported on by University World News.Read more
University World News Examines OSUN's Role in Resisting Threats to Academic Freedom Worldwide
University World News details three instances where OSUN has assisted partner institutions in the face of authoritarian attacks on their humanities and social sciences programs.Read more
Apply to the Engaged Research Fund for 2023-24
OSUN and Talloires Network of Engaged Universities (TN) invite applications for funding and research support for graduate students and faculty at OSUN and TN partner institutions who are working to develop long-term, sustainable community partnerships as a central part of their research with a goal to develop shared knowledge about issues that align with OSUN priorities and themes.
The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that former students and faculty from New College of Florida have formed Alt New College, a project supported by OSUN in response to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ aggressive attacks on the progressive institution.Read more
The BPI Consortium for the Liberal Arts in Prison Puts College for Incarcerated People on the Global Agenda
The Bard Prison Initiative (BPI), an OSUN partner since 2021, has helped to restore federal funding for education in US prisons, provided technical assistance and strategic guidance to partners across the globe, and grown a community of practice across six continents.
The “Shameless Hatred” Behind Attacks on Gender, Academia
University World News recently reported on Alt New College’s inaugural lecture about authoritarian assaults on gender studies, given by Judith Butler, philosopher and distinguished professor in the Graduate School at the University of California, and Masha Gessen, distinguished writer in residence at Bard College.
The Open Society University Network (OSUN) is a global partnership of educational institutions that integrates learning and the advancement of knowledge--in the social sciences, the humanities, the sciences and the arts, on undergraduate and graduate levels--across geographic and demographic boundaries, promotes civic engagement on behalf of open societies, and expands access to higher education for underserved communities.
OSUN builds on the accomplishments of several major initiatives in higher education supported by the Open Society Foundations (OSF). In the 1990s, OSF’s Higher Education Support Program (HESP) effectively served as a Marshall Plan for higher education in Central and Eastern Europe. CEU, founded in 1991, became a unique model in graduate education, combining cutting-edge research and research-based teaching with a focused social mission.
Philanthropic Partner
For almost 30 years, OSF has supported innovative cooperation between CEU and Bard College, and between their respective national and international networks. During this period, OSF has contributed to the development of groundbreaking higher education institutions, first in Central and Eastern Europe, and then globally. OSF also supported a program of fellowships in higher education that has intellectually empowered tens of thousands of students and educators throughout the world.
The Open Society Foundations (OSF) is an international grant-making network that supports civil society groups around the world, with the aim of advancing justice, education, public health and independent media. Since its inception, in 1993, it has contributed:
$15.2 billion in total expenditures
50,000+ grants to organizations, scholars, and activists in 120+ countries
Although originally focused in the 1990s on Central and Eastern Europe, Eurasia, South Africa, and Myanmar, OSF has since expanded its network to Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, and had a budget of $1.1 billion in 2019.
OSF’s Higher Education Support Program initiated a massive undertaking to reform research and teaching in the social sciences and humanities at universities across Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia in the 1990s. It has since expanded this program to over 50 colleges and universities around the world, with the aim of promoting academic freedom, university autonomy, equal and open access to knowledge and education, student-centered learning, service to the community, and transparent, inclusive governance. This program has yielded significant advances, including:
The creation of beachheads of intellectual freedom and critical enquiry at some of its core grantee institutions, such as the American University of Central Asia and American University in Bulgaria.
Improvements in the quality of the liberal arts curriculum and pedagogy at the American University of Central Asia, European Humanities University, Al-Quds Bard College, and St. Petersburg University’s Faculty of Liberal Arts, in partnership with Bard.
The introduction of innovative models of access to higher education in the Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps in Kenya.
The establishment of independent external testing system for admissions at Ukrainian universities, which have combat the paying of bribes for student places.
As part of its efforts to expand access to higher education and empowered educators around the world, OSF has provided close to 20,000 scholarships and research grants since the 1980s - with awards in 42 countries, ranging from Haiti to Angola, Eritrea, Egypt, Afghanistan, and Cambodia.
OSF has also demonstrated its deep commitment to academic freedom through its early and long-standing support for scholars who are threatened or imprisoned because of their work. It was a founding contributor to the Scholar Rescue Fund and is a leading supporter of the Scholars at Risk network.
