Knowledge and Power: The International Struggle for Academic Freedom

CAUT and Education International Academic Freedom Conference 2025 / February 7-8, 2025, Calgary

Across the globe, academics are facing mounting pressures and attacks in both authoritarian and democratic countries. Censorship of course material, the banning of programs of study, and the harassment, intimidation, and detention of scholars are all too common. This conference reviews the global state of academic freedom with the aim of discussing ways it can be strengthened. Panellists from around the world will evaluate the existing legal foundations of academic freedom in both domestic and international law, explore how academic staff unions and civil society groups globally are organizing to defend and advance academic freedom, and discuss concrete ways the right to academic freedom can be better monitored and enforced.

Speakers:

Alison Barnes, President, National Tertiary Education Union Australia

Camilla Croso, Executive Director, Coalition for Academic Freedom in the Americas

David Dzatsunga, President, College and Lecturers Association of Zimbabwe

David Edwards, General Secretary, Education International

Jo Grady, General Secretary, University and College Union United Kingdom

Mark Jewell, Elementary School Educator, National Education Association

Terence Karran, Emeritus Professor of Higher Education Policy, Lincoln University

Nidal Abdul Khalek, International Relations Secretary, Ligue des Professeurs de l'Université Libanaise

Louis-Philippe Lampron, Professor, Faculty of Law, Université Laval

Philip Lee, Professor, St John’s University School of Law

Michael Lynk, Associate Professor of Law, Western University

Michel Maric, Responsable international du Syndicat national de l’enseignement supérieur (SNESUP-FSU)

Grace Nyongesa, National Chairperson, Universities Academic Staff Union Kenya

Madeleine Pastinelli, President, Fédération québécoise des professeures et professeurs d’université

Rob Quinn, Executive Director, Scholars at Risk

Jon Shelton, Professor and Chair, American Federation of Teachers

Anand Singh, Director, Education International’s Asia-Pacific

Noah Sobe, Professor, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

Marc Spooner, Professor in the Faculty of Education, University of Regina

Yamile Socolovsky, International Secretary, Federación Nacional de Docentes Universitarios Argentina

Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation of Teachers