The Committee for the Improvement of Academic Life (CIAL) was reconstituted during the 2015-16 academic year. In this session, we review real threats to academicians around the world, with special attention being paid to what has happened in Turkey over the past year. Participants and audience members will be asked to share ideas consistent with the CIAL charge, which can be found here: http://iamcr.org/academic_life_committee.