Dangerous Questions: Why Academic Freedom Matters (Invitation)

A Special Event of the Academic Refuge project
13 June 2018 (09.00 to 16.30)
University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Sciences

Are some questions too dangerous to ask? What happens to scholars and students who ask those questions? How can you contribute to strengthening core university values, such as academic freedom?

Join us to discuss these and other important questions at an upcoming special event organized by the EU-funded ‘Academic Refuge’ project. The project aims to improve the capacity of European universities to assist refugees and threatened academics on campus and to promote understanding and respect for higher education values. Together with speakers and participants from Slovenia and across the region, we will discuss current threats to academic freedom worldwide, as well as the role of universities in welcoming and supporting refugees and scholars facing threats to their lives and their work. The event, which is free and open to the public, will serve as the launch of a new Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on the same topic, entitled: “Dangerous Questions: Why Academic Freedom Matters.” The MOOC is an interactive course (also free of charge) which will be launched 4 June 2018 on the Futurelearn platform.

Featured speakers at the event will include Sonja Biserko, Founder of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia, Prof. Dr. Branka Kalenić Ramšak of the University of Ljubljana, at-risk scholars from Serbia and Turkey, as well as representatives from the Academic Refuge project partners: the University of Oslo, the University of Ljubljana, the Network of Universities from the Capitals of Europe (UNICA) and Scholars at Risk, an international network of higher education institutions dedicated to protecting scholars and promoting academic freedom worldwide.

We welcome interested members of the public, NGOs, government representatives, international organizations, as well as academic and administrative university staff. The event is relevant for people interested in quality in research, human rights of higher education communities, welcoming refugees and threatened academics on campus, international education, inclusion and widening participation, promoting higher education values and negotiating or implementing inter-university partnerships.

Registration for the event: Participation is free of charge. We invite you to register by 14 May 2018 at https://nettskjema.uio.no/answer/ljubljana-event-13june2018.html.

A full event program is forthcoming. We look forward to seeing you in Ljubljana!

Academic Refuge webpage: https://www.uio.no/english/about/global/globally-engaged/academic-refuge/.

Sign up for the MOOC Dangerous Questions: Why Academic Freedom Matters at https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/academic-freedom

Contact person: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Andreja Vezovnik

Final programme Dangerous questions 13-6-2018

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