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Devrim Yavuz Wins APSA Award for International Partnership
August 26, 2026
After major earthquakes hit Turkey and Syria in early 2023, Devrim Yavuz, associate professor of political science, joined forces with three colleagues across the globe to offer support and stability to scholars in the region. He and his collaborators have just received the 2026 American Political Science Association/International Political Science Association International Partnerships Award for their work, which helped students and academics continue their studies while offering vital social connection in a time of crisis.
The Post-Disaster Online Writing Solidarity Group “was founded out of solidarity with scholars who work on the Middle East or who are from the Middle East and may have had difficulty carrying out their work because of events impacting the region,” said Yavuz, who holds a dual appointment at Lehman and the CUNY Graduate Center. “I believe that as hosts we benefit as much from the solidarity of the group as its participants,” he added.
The group has since expanded to a network of over 160 participants in more than 20 countries and enabled 17 graduate students to complete their doctoral theses. “It required little in the way of financial resources while helping graduate students and scholars from very diverse backgrounds and in very diverse institutions navigate the challenges of academia,” Yavuz said.
“The collaboration exemplifies the award’s commitment to civic engagement and inclusivity in its fullest sense, providing structured support, mentorship, and professional development to scholars from historically underrepresented communities in the Middle East and beyond,” wrote the award committee in its citation.
A blueprint for the project, “Academic Solidarity in the Wake of Disaster: Blueprint for an Online Writing Support Group,” was published in Political Science & Politics