The research network will build an interdisciplinary community of scholars interested in understanding and advocating for the protection of academic freedom.
CGHR will co-sponsor the CRASSH Academic Freedoms Research Network with the Global Racisms Institute for Social Transformation (GRIST) at the University of Cambridge’s Department of Sociology.
Academic Freedom
The organisation of the research network is in response to the decline of academic freedom, which, though central to the research and education conditions of the university, has been in significant decline, globally, since 2013.
Taking the form of a seminar series, the network will also allow space for the community to collectively define the concept and practices of academic freedom based on their experiences as scholars.
The series will comprise 8 sessions:
- Seminar 1: Building Academic Freedom
- Seminar 2: Academic Freedom as a Collective Right
- Seminar 3: Academic Freedom, Context and Positionality
- Seminar 4: Freedom of Speech +/- Academic Freedom: Experiences from the UK
- Seminar 5: Backlash
- Seminar 6: The Activist Scholar
- Seminar 7: Speculative Futures of Academic Freedom
- Seminar 8: Academic Freedom and Freedom Struggles
The network’s work in 2025-26 will culminate in a Handbook for Universities on Academic Freedom Dialogue and Practice.
For more information on the CRASSH Academic Freedoms Research Network, visit: https://www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/research/networks/academic-freedoms/.
