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Internationalisation and Risks to Academic Freedom

When: Thursday, July 13, 2023, 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Where: 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.

Programme

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

  • Academic Self-Censorship in the Context of Academic Collaboration and Exchange with Autocracies by Professor Eva Pils (King’s College London)
  • Internationalisation of Higher Education in the UK and China’s Expansion by Dr Tim Pringle (SOAS)
  • Living under People’s Republic of China Sanction: Impacts on Research, Teaching and Prospects for Inter-Cultural Communication by Jo Smith-Finley (Newcastle University)

10:30-11:00 - Coffee/Tea Break

11:00-12:30 - Panel on Internationalisation and Academic Freedom

  • Silence is an Option. Academic Freedom under Pressure in Russia by Professor Lien Verpoest (University of Leuven)
  • Antisemitism and Academic Freedom in the UK by Professor Neve Gordon (Queen Mary)
  • Academic Freedom in Myanmar by Professor Penny Green (Queen Mary)
  • The Limits of Academic Freedom in Turkey by Dr Gullistan Yarkin and Dr Derya Bayir (independent researchers)

12:30-13:00 - Concluding Remarks by Professor John Heathershaw (University of Exeter)

13:00-14:00 - Lunch

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