Defunding of universities has forced administrators to to seek and secure private donations from wealthy individuals or corporations. Pictured here, the Michael G. De Groote Faculty of Medecine, McMaster University, in Hamilton, Ont.
We should challenge government defunding of universities, and greater reliance on private donations that can affect the transparency, equity and democracy of public institutions, including hospitals.
Enshrining the Model Code on Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom in legislation won’t ensure disagreements on campus remain civil. Here are some practical guidelines on how to disagree well.
Iranian state television reports the release of Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert.
Iranian State Television via AP/AAP
Academic freedom is under assault around the world. Academics and students are being killed, injured, detained and disappeared in a pattern of disturbing increases in state repression.
Academic freedom will be defined in law. It will keep universities busy with compliance, but the main outcome is more symbolic: the government can say it has stood up for free speech.
Ontario’s new order in council adopting the IHRA definition on antisemitism risks stifling criticism of Israel.
(Newtown grafitti/flickr)
Ontario’s recent order-in-council adopting the IHRA’s definition of antisemitism has been lauded by some. However, critics fear that it could be used to curtail criticism of the Israeli government.
Dangers to academic freedom: Many see a shift to equate criticism of Israeli state policies with antisemitism.
(Miguel Henriques/Unsplash)
The new Japanese prime minister, Yoshihide Suga’s rejection of six scientists nominated for an advisory panel has raised concerns over academic freedom.
It’s all in the details: the wide-ranging powers hinge on the yet-to-be-defined ‘institutional autonomy’ of foreign partners that enter into agreements with Australian public universities.
The campaign for ‘free speech on campus’ mimics US and UK tactics of using a manufactured crisis to further the goal of increasing conservative political influence in universities.
Distinguishing a unique sense of place within a common virtual space of online learning will require significant investment.
(Shutterstock)
In a world where students can attend any university from their living rooms, universities need a compelling answer to the question: “Why should students come here?”
The University of Ghana is considered one of the leading centers of learning in West Africa.
Nataly Reinch/Shutterstock
Professor Deborah Terry AO speaks of the importance of university expertise, academic freedom, university collaborations with business and international education.
Fariba Adelkhah at the paris Salon du Livre in 2010.
Georges Seguin/Wikipedia
The current threat to university autonomy has been triggered by a myriad of financial and administrative challenges
President Jomo Kenyatta, wearing a gold and scarlet robe and leopard cap, is installed as Chancellor of the University of Nairobi in December 1970.
Getty Images
The crisis at Nairobi University falls within an established pattern of government intervention in universities going back decades
Controversy erupted after a lecturer at the University of Alberta posted on Facebook in November that the Holomodor is a “myth.” Canada recognized the Holomodor — the death of millions of Ukrainians in 1932–33 due to Soviet policies — as an act of genocide in 2008. Here, the Holodomor Memorial, Kyiv, Ukraine.
(Flickr/Matt Shalvatis)
Indonesian policymaking is predominantly informed by research with poor theoretical engagement, with no strong tradition of peer review and with legal threats to academic freedom.
University professors and students protest against Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro and his government’s cuts to federal spending on higher education, in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Amanda Perobelli/Reuters
Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, Auckland University of Technology, and Professor of Political Science, Charles Sturt University