Department of Anthropology

Dear Anthropology Community,

On the morning of Friday March 7, Stanford’s Department of Anthropology became the target of a coordinated harassment campaign aimed at preventing a Palestinian scholar, Professor Sarah Ihmoud, from speaking in our department on March 10. Over the course of 24 hours, more than 3,200 emails were sent to the department chair and other faculty. Many of the messages were extremely hostile and accusatory; a few contained threats to the department chair. 

Late Friday, the department chair worked with staff to find solutions to make sure that the Monday event would be secure and productive. The goal was to quickly move the talk to a new campus venue able to accommodate a much larger audience and that would be less prone to disruption. Unfortunately, no such space was available on such short notice.

With less than 24 hours before Professor Ihmoud was scheduled to travel to Stanford, the department chair decided to postpone, not cancel, the event so that better preparations could be made. Professor Ihmoud was notified on Friday night of the circumstances and decision. We apologize for the inconvenience and adverse consequences this caused to Dr. Ihmoud. She has been invited to present her work to Stanford’s Department of Anthropology in the spring. We shall do our utmost to ensure that the event will take place in a safe and productive manner.