A Week on Academic Freedom
Monday October 23 to Friday October 27, 2023
"A Week on Academic Freedom" is a joint initiative by the research program Democracy and Higher Education, Higher Education and Research as Objects of Study, and Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study. A series of events will be organized on the common theme of academic freedom over the course of a week. All events take place in Uppsala between October 23–27.
Download the programme here.
Monday October 23
Academic Freedom and Responsibility in Policy and Practice
13:15–13:25 | Inauguration of the Week (English) Tora Holmberg, Professor of Sociology & Vice-rector, Uppsala University Christina Garsten, Principal and Permanent Fellow, SCAS & Professor of Social Anthropology, Uppsala University and Stockholm University Linda Wedlin, Professor of Business Studies & Director of Democracy and Higher Education, Uppsala University Mikael Börjesson, Professor in Sociology of Education & Director of HERO, Uppsala University |
13:30–14:15 | Student interests and the Freedom of Teaching: Challenges and How to Respond (English) Andrea Talentino, Professor of Political Science & President of Augustana College |
14:15–15:00 | Reimagining Academic Freedom in Europe: What is at Stake?(English) Liviu Matei, Professor of Higher Education and Public Policy, King's College London & representative of The Guild |
15:00–15:30 | Break |
15:30–17:00 | En fri akademi bland ökade krav: Vad behövs för en kunskapsbildning i demokratins tjänst? Panelsamtal (Swedish) Dag Blanck, Professor of North American Studies, Uppsala University (moderator) Farshid Jalalvand, PhD in Medical Microbiology and Author Annika Nilsson, Associate Professor in Public Law, Uppsala University Göran Rosenberg, Journalist and Author Linn Svärd, Swedish National Union of Students Astrid Söderbergh Widding, Professor in Cinema Studies & Vice-Chancellor, Stockholm University Johan Östling, Professor of History, Director of the Lund Centre for the History of Knowledge (LUCK) and Wallenberg Academy Fellow |
17:00– | Informal reception Registration is required. Register here. |
Organized by: Democracy and Higher Education.
Venue: Lecture Hall X, University Main Building
Language: Swedish and English
Tuesday October 24
The Relationship between Academia and Society in Troubled Times
13:15–13.20 | Welcome Mikael Börjesson, Professor in Sociology of Education & Director of HERO, Uppsala University Sharon Rider, Professor of Philosophy & Deputy Director of HERO, Uppsala University |
Part I: | Variations of Interfaces: Scientific Domains |
13:20–13:45 | Science Today: Predicaments and Promises Sven Widmalm, Professor of History of Science and Ideas, Uppsala University Dan Larhammar, Professor of Molecular Cell Biology, Uppsala University Mia Phillipson, Professor of Physiology, Uppsala University |
13:45–14:10 | What is Public Social Science? Johan Heilbron, Guest Professor at HERO, Uppsala University Kristoffer Kropp, Associate Professor of Sociology, Roskilde University Julien Larregue, Assistant Professor in Sociology, Université Laval |
14:10–14:35 | Beyond the Integrative Humanities Anders Ekström, Professor of History of Science and Ideas, Uppsala University Ulrika Björkstén, Secretary General, Vetenskap & Allmänhet Nina Wormbs, Professor in History of Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology |
14:35–15:00 | Conclusions Anders Ekström, Johan Heilbron & Sven Widmalm |
15:00–15:20 | Break |
Part II: | Science, Politics, and Ideology |
15:20–15:45 | Declining Trust in Science? Johan Heilbron, Guest Professor at HERO, Uppsala University Ulrika Björkstén, Secretary General, Vetenskap & Allmänhet |
15:45–16:10 | Research Funding for Excellence: Impact and Consequences Kerstin Sahlin, Senior Professor of Public Management & Chair of HERO, Uppsala University Peter Edlund, Researcher in Business Studies, Uppsala University Audrey Harroche, Research Fellow, Oxford Brookes University |
16:10–16:35 | Between Academe and Politics – Think Tanks and the Quest for Knowledge Christina Garsten, Principal and Permanent Fellow, SCAS & Professor of Social Anthropology, Uppsala University and Stockholm University Ulrik Jennische, Junior Global Horizons Fellow, SCAS & Researcher at Stockholm Centre for Organizational Research (Score), Stockholms University Dieter Plehwe, Senior Global Horizons Fellow, SCAS & Senior Research Fellow, WZB Berlin Social Science Center |
16:35–17:00 | Conclusions Christina Garsten, Johan Heilbron & Kerstin Sahlin |
17:00– | Informal reception Registration is required. Register here. |
Organized by: HERO.
Venue: Hall C, Uppsala Konsert & Kongress, 13:15–17:00
Language: English
Wednesday October 25
Hur står det till med den akademiska friheten?
13:15–13:30 | Inledning (Swedish) |
13:30–14:25 | Den akademiska friheten i Sverige: En lägesbild (Swedish) Shirin Ahlbäck Öberg, Professor of Political Science & Deputy Director of HERO, Uppsala University Anna Jonsson Cornell, Professor of Comparative Constitutional Law, Uppsala University |
14:30–15:00 | Vad behöver göras? Diskussion med intresseorganisationer (Swedish) Shirin Ahlbäck Öberg (moderator) Ylva Fältholm, Vice-Chancellor of University of Gävle & representative of SUHF Emil Görnerup, Head of Research and Innovation Policy, Confederation of Swedish Enterprise Rasmus Lindstedt, Board Member, SFS Karin Åmossa, Head of Policy and International Affairs, SULF |
15:00–15:30 | Break |
15:30–16:25 | Nordic Comparative Perspectives on Academic Freedom (English) Sharon Rider, Professor of Philosophy & Deputy Director of HERO, Uppsala University (moderator) Janne Holmén, Associate Professor in the History of Education, Uppsala University Asger Sørensen, Associate Professor in Philosophy of Education, Aarhus University Anine Kierulf, Associate Professor in Constitutional Law, University of Oslo |
16:30–17:00 | Discussion (Swedish/English) |
Organized by: HERO.
Venue: Humanities Theatre, English Park Campus
Language: Swedish and English
Thursday October 26
Academic Citizenship in Perspective
10:15–12:00 | The VUIAS Initiative – A Joint Effort in Founding an Institute for Advanced Study for Ukraine Daniel Schönpflug, Head of Academic Programs, Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, Professor of History, Freie Universität Berlin & Co-Chair Virtual Ukraine Institute for Advanced Study (VUIAS). |
16:30–18.00 | On Academic Integrity Sverker Sörlin, Non-resident Long-term Fellow for Programmes on Environmental Humanities, SCAS & Professor of Environmental History, KTH Royal Institute of Technology. |
Organized by: SCAS.
Venue: SCAS, The Thunberg Lecture Hall, Linneanum, The Botanical Garden.
Language: English.
This session will be available via Zoom Webinar: https://uu-se.zoom.us/j/63453675775.
Friday October 27
Varieties of Collegiality
10.15–10.30 | Introduction Kerstin Sahlin, Senior Professor of Public Management & Chair of HERO, Uppsala University |
10.30–10.50 | Governing Research. New Forms of Competition and Cooperation in Academia (pre-recorded lecture) Anna Kosmützky, Professor for the Methodology of Higher Education and Science Research, Leibniz Center of Science and Society (LCSS), Leibniz University Hannover Georg Krücken, Professor of the Sociology of Higher Education & Director of the International Center for Higher Education Research (INCHER), University of Kassel |
10.50–11.10 | Integrating Horizontal and Vertical Collegiality Francois van Schalkwyk, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for Research on Evaluation, Science and Technology (CREST), Stellenbosch University |
11.10–11.30 | A Slow Form of Governance? Collegial Organization and Temporal Synchronization in the Context of Swedish University Reforms Hampus Östh Gustafsson, Researcher at the Lund Centre for the History of Knowledge (LUCK), Lund University |
11.30–12.00 | Comments & Discussion Shirin Ahlbäck Öberg, Professor of Political Science & Deputy Director of HERO, Uppsala University Johan Boberg, Associate Professor in Sociology of Education & Research Coordinator at HERO, Uppsala University |
Organized by: HERO.
Venue: SCAS, The Thunberg Lecture Hall, Linneanum, The Botanical Garden.
Language: English.
This session will be available via Zoom Webinar: https://uu-se.zoom.us/j/66417120918