Academic Freedom, University Ethics, and Practices at Home and Overseas
April 9, 2019
1-3pm
Rm 108 Tisch 721 Broadway
Academics today work in national contexts of deepening repression and authoritarianism, as well as rising tides of anti-democratic and nativist forces. Faculty, students and staff in the US and beyond have had to contend with censorship, intimidation, security denials, firings, disappearances, imprisonment and killings. This has direct implications for researchers and teachers at NYU, as well as for the Global Network University project.
What ethical responsibilities do universities have to ensure academic freedom? Should universities establish campuses in nations with repressive authoritarian regimes? How should universities be accountable for the safety of their researchers? What legally-binding guarantees must they obtain, and what written protocols should they develop, to ensure that governments do not violate or erode promised freedoms? How should universities respond when the academic – or even bodily – freedom of their members are threatened? What crucial roles do and should professional academic associations play?
NYU’s AAUP chapter, Sanctuary Coalition, Gallatin Human Rights Initiative, Asian/Pacific/American Institute and Depts of American Studies, Cinema Studies, English, History, Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, and Social and Cultural Analysis – invite you to join an open conversation on these questions.
Speakers
Henry Reichman
Prof. Emeritus of History, California State University
Chair, AAUP Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure
Author, The Future of Academic Freedom (JHU, 2019)
Matthew Hedges & Daniela Tejada
Hedges: Ph.D. candidate, Durham University; wrongfully detained, imprisoned, and convicted of espionage during IRB approved research, UAE 2018
Tejada: MA, King’s College London; successfully coordinated the campaign for Hedges’ release
DISCUSSANT and MODERATOR
Miriam Lowi
Professor, Dept of Political Science and the International Studies Program, The College of New Jersey
Chair, Committee on Academic Freedom, Middle East North Africa Wing, MESA