Space for Academic Debate: Between safe and brave spaces: The role of universities in historical perspective
- Date
- Thursday 12 December 2024
- Time
- Location
- C.131, Kamerlingh Onnes building
The 'Space for academic debate' ('Ruimte voor academisch debat') lecture series was launched on 14 June 2024 at Leiden Law School. Initially, the series was designed to offer an opportunity for Leiden Law School’s students and employees to discuss the many complexities and perspectives related to the situation in Gaza and the broader problems concerning Israel and Palestine.
In later sessions, we broadened the scope to focus on discussing academic boycotts and ethics committees (9 September 2024) and security at universities (20 November 2024).
During these sessions, the role of universities emerged as a recurring theme. As we close a year shadowed by looming financial cuts in Dutch higher education and enter the late 2020s – an era shaped by global insecurities often driven by emotion over fact – it is a good moment for reflection. What is the role of universities and academics in today’s world?
Join us for a discussion on this important question at our next session on 12 December 2024!
Fourth session: 12 December 2024
Thematic session, 12 December 2024: Between safe and brave spaces: The role of universities in historical perspective
Universities are facing complex global issues: geopolitical instability creating societal unrest, navigating AI in a world increasingly dominated by algorithms rather than facts, climate change, and reliance on external sources for research funding – all against a backdrop of internal diversity and tension within our own communities. How should universities navigate these challenges and be both safe spaces and brave spaces, fostering open dialogue without resorting to surveillance or suppressing dissent? And given that some of these issues are not new, how were they dealt with in the past? Can we learn from the past? During this session, experts will kick off the debate by discussing these and related questions from a historical perspective.
Leiden University’s university historian (Pieter Slaman) will present an overview of academic freedom at Leiden University throughout the centuries. Professor of the history of the humanities, Herman Paul, will demonstrate that the role of the scholar (and, by extension, the university) in relation to the responsibilities of a politically engaged citizen has always been a matter of debate. The pressing question is: which legacy should universities uphold – actively taking sides in political struggles or serving as a forum for open exchange and intellectual development? And, crucially, why?
Both speakers will present in English.