A still from the movie "Three Songs for Benazir" by Elizabeth Mirzaei and Gulistan Mirzaei.
Artists and Scholars At Risk (ASAR) Program
Application and Nomination
The first step in becoming an ASAR scholar at CMU is to apply to one of our partner programs: Scholars at Risk, the Scholar Rescue Fund or ICORN. ASAR then works with our partner organizations to identify scholars whose artistic or scholarly work aligns with academic programs offered at CMU.
If you have a specific interest in or connection to CMU, please fill out the CMU ASAR nomination form, in addition to applying to one of CMU’s partner organizations. CMU faculty, staff, students, or affiliates may fill out the CMU ASAR nomination form if they are nominating a scholar; please note that the scholar must also apply through our partner programs.
Who can nominate? A CMU student, faculty, staff, or community member who knows of someone who might benefit from this program may submit a nomination. Scholars may nominate themselves.
Who can apply? Scholars, artists, and writers who meet eligibility criteria are welcome to apply for the program sponsorship on their own behalf. (It is not required that a scholar or artist is nominated by someone else.)
For additional information, please consult the Frequently Asked Questions page on this website, or contact the GSIIA office, or anyone on the ASAR Steering Committee.
Host a Scholar at CMU
Academic schools, departments, programs, and institutes in the humanities and the arts with interest in hosting an artist or scholar in CMU’s Artists and Scholars At Risk (ASAR) are encouraged to come forward to any member of the CMU Steering Committee to explore the possibility. A CMU host should expect to offer an office or workspace and a computer setup, integrate the scholar/artist into departmental activities to the extent appropriate, and, most importantly, identify a faculty mentor who is willing to provide significant intellectual and academic support to the scholar. Faculty mentors work closely with and receive support from the Center for the Arts in Society to create programming aimed at integrating the artist/scholar into the broader CMU and Pittsburgh Community.
For additional information, please email Lisa Krieg.
CMU Faculty Mentor Testimonials
“Our fellow, sponsored in collaboration with City of Asylum, has been a fabulous contributor to departmental intellectual and cultural life. Students have benefited greatly from interactions and independent studies with the scholar. It’s been a truly transformative experience for all.”
–Anne Lambright, Department Head - Languages, Cultures & Applied Linguistics
“All three of our current visiting fellows have brought programming to our community–in the form of film screenings, readings, and seminar-style gatherings–that has been enriching, eye-opening, and empathy-building. To see the world through the eyes of an artist or scholar whose work has put them at risk is to truly appreciate the fragile nature of our right to free expression; it also underscores how crucial the arts and humanities are to a functioning and stable society.”
–Wendy Arons, Professor of Dramatic Literature and Director of the Center for the Arts in Society