Students have now been protesting on Australian campuses for weeks. But as the camps become more established, so, too, do concerns about student safety.
The situation in Gaza undoubtedly requires urgent international attention and a peaceful resolution. Yet it is not the only armed conflict or humanitarian crisis in the world.
Anti-war movements can yield much positive coalition building towards peace, but can also trigger backlash. Protesters gather in an encampment set up on the University of Toronto campus in Toronto on May 2, 2024.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov
Communication about conflict is the fundamental starting point for future action. In modeling non-violent communication, university leaders can proactively counter potential extremism.
It is important that we in Canada understand our history so that we know how to move forward with clear solutions.
(Shutterstock)
Canada was never designed to be a space for unequivocal diversity, equity or inclusion. Rather, DEI initiatives are based on policies that maintain an unequal status quo.
Teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work students may be eligible to receive $319.50 per week while on placements. But experts say more help is needed.
How university campuses respond to concerns about student safety can set the stage for learning or encourage its opposite: divisiveness and censorship.
Members of the New York Police Department load arrested protesters from Columbia University onto a bus on April 30, 2024.
(AP Photo/Julius Motal)
Almost 56 years to the day after the anti-war protests in 1968, New York City police evicted Columbia University students from an on-campus occupation.
Countries in east Africa are facing the harsh realities of climate change.
Isaac Kasamani/AFP via Getty Images
Business and management graduates can become the kind of sustainability champions the world needs today.
Ohio National Guard soldiers move in on anti-war protesters at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, in May 1970. Four students were killed and nine wounded when National Guardsmen opened fire on the protesters.
(AP Photo, File)
Even if you disagree with their concerns or their tactics, students should not be penalized for thinking critically about world events and trying to bring about positive social change.
Anti-Vietnam War protests at the University of Sydney, 1969.
Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales and Courtesy SEARCH Foundation
Australian universities have long been a site of protest. Today’s students join this legacy of activists who helped shape higher education and the Australian cultural landscape.
A student holds a ‘Free Palestine’ sign at a rally at the University of Texas April 24, 2024, in Austin, Texas, one of many gatherings following the arrest of more than 100 demonstrators at Columbia University protesting Israel’s war in Gaza.
(Ricardo B. Brazziell/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
Ontario’s Strengthening Accountability and Student Supports Act threatens to undermine university autonomy, and could serve to censor critical thinking and dissent on campuses.
Cape Breton University first-year public health students, both from India, sit in the university’s great hall in Sydney, N.S., in October 2023.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Steve Wadden
Rather than reducing international student permits, Ottawa should actively promote the advantages of studying in less populous provinces.
It’s important to understand both the possibilities and limitations of campus dialogue. A person walks past a board with the message ‘Free Palestine’ on the campus of Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis, Feb. 7, 2024, in Indianapolis.
(AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
In 2015, I saw Jewish and Muslim students forge a set of group agreements so they could dialogue on the Middle East conflict. Initiatives like this or a ‘Semester in Dialogue’ program are promising.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith introduces legislation addressing agreements between the federal government and provincial entities in Edmonton on April 10, 2024.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson.
Tom Baker, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
The former finance minister starts as vice-chancellor of Otago University in July. But such appointments call for more robust debate about the perceived independence of our tertiary institutions.