When: Thursday, July 13, 2023, 9:00 AM - 1:00 PMWhere: QMUL Graduate Centre Mile End Road London E1 4NS
Across the globe, there are rising threats to academic freedom as higher education becomes more and more international. What emerges out of these developments is a growing tension between a commitment to research and teaching that would be immune from external interference and the growing interdependence with higher education landscapes and funding sources that are anchored in very different political-legal environments.
This topic is particularly relevant, given the recent adoption of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act in the UK in May this year.
The event’s panel will look into real life examples in China, Russia, Turkey, and Myanmar, and spell out implications for freedom of speech and academic freedom in both teaching and research.
8:30-9:00 - Registration
09:00-9:10 - Welcome by Professor Frances Bowen (Vice-Principal, Queen Mary) and Professor Jonathan Griffiths (Head of Department of Law, Queen Mary)
9:10-9:30 - Keynote on Free Speech in Academia: Are Universities Supposed to Be Democratic? by Professor Eric Heinze (Queen Mary)
9:30-10:30 Panel on China and Academic Freedom
10:30-11:00 - Coffee/Tea Break
11:00-12:30 - Panel on Internationalisation and Academic Freedom
12:30-13:00 - Concluding Remarks by Professor John Heathershaw (University of Exeter)
13:00-14:00 - Lunch