International Online Conference of Academic Freedom as a Human Right
Monday, December 14, 2020 – 13:00 to Wednesday, December 16, 2020 – 15:30
Online
The International Online Conference of Academic Freedom as a Human Right is organized by the School of Human Rights.
The 1988 Lima Declaration on Academic Freedom and Autonomy of Institutions of Higher Education defines academic freedom as “the freedom of members of the academic community, individually or collectively, in the pursuit, development and transmission of knowledge, through research, study, discussion, documentation, production, creation, teaching, lecturing and writing”. Such freedom is recognized as the precondition, sine qua non, for education, research, administration and service in independent universities and graduate institutions.
The International Conference of Academic Freedom as A Human Right, proposes to discuss this definition, with two key areas of focus.
First, they will discuss the definition and historical responsibility of, as well as the meanings attributed to, academic freedom as a human right in Turkey, and in other parts of the world. This leads to the question, “Is academic freedom a basic human right?”
Second, they will discuss academic freedom in terms of its relation to power and academia. In this light, we will focus on the Turkish case of academic freedom (which in practice has rarely been much more than an aspiration), and explore the increasing pressures on universities across the world with the rise of authoritarian regimes. Here, the question is, “Who owns academia?”
Keynote speaker is Joan W. Scott with her presentation “What Kind of Freedom is Academic Freedom?”.
Please visit the conference website for detailed information and registration: https://insanhaklariokulu.org/konferans/en