Symposium Explores Past, Present, and Future of Academic Freedom

The United States has enjoyed academic freedom for 110 years — causing many of us to take it for granted, said Kate Pride Brown, an associate professor in the School of History and Sociology and the organizer of the Academic Freedom and Human Rights Symposium. 

“But it was established in the face of threats,” Brown said. “Understanding the history of where it comes from and what it means is important.” 

The full-day Academic Freedom and Human Rights Symposium explores just that. 

It will take place at Price Gilbert Library on Oct. 10 and feature research on how academic freedom began in the United States, as well as challenges and observations from the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, Turkey, Mexico, China, Russia, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. 

The event brings together scholars from Georgia Tech and Georgia State University and will conclude with a keynote address by Michael S. Roth, president of Wesleyan University.  

“These examples show us that academic freedom is not simply pretty words. It's a value that is central to any democratic society,” Brown said. 

“When citizens have access to valid knowledge, they can make more informed choices. But better-informed choices may not always conform to what powerful people might like it to be,” she added. “Scholars’ fundamental interest is in making sure that knowledge is valid, despite what other interests are at stake. That's their biggest contribution, and it is where they find their greatest success.” 

RSVP to attend the Academic Freedom and Human Rights Symposium (lunch will be provided). Speaker topics include:  

• Academic Freedom Within the Field of Power — Kate Pride Brown, Georgia Tech
• Academic Freedom: History and Fading Future — Deron Boyles, GSU
• Galileo on Trial — Nick Wilder, GSU
• Doublespeak and Aesopian Language in the Soviet Union — Nikolay Koposov, Georgia Tech
• Unmasking Rousseau: Victor Klemperer and Academic Freedom in Nazi Germany — Victoria Thompson, Georgia Tech
• Academic Freedom in Mexico: A Few Observations —  German Vergara, Georgia Tech
• Iron Curtain, Bamboo Curtain, and the Great Firewall: The Limited Progress in Freedom of Information and Expression in China — Hanchao Lu, Georgia Tech
• Academic Censorship and Control in Russia: My Experience at the Siberian Federal University — Evgeny Tikhonravov, Georgia Tech
• From Campuses to Courtrooms: The Slow Death of Academic Freedom in Turkey — Kemal Budak, Georgia Tech
• Authoritarian Nicaragua and Venezuela: Closing Space for Academic Freedom and Human Rights — Jennifer McCoy, GSU
• Keynote Address, Protecting Our Freedoms: It’s Not Just Academic — Michael S. Roth, president of Wesleyan University