What, to the Scholar, is Academic Freedom? Research, Teaching, & Engagement When Academic Freedom is Under Threat

What does Cornell’s institutional commitment to academic freedom entail for scholars who study, teach about, and engage around subjects related to race, racism, gender, colonialism, equity, and numerous other such topics? As faculty, staff, and administrators navigate threats and challenges to academic freedom, both historically enduring and acutely present, they can feel isolated, vulnerable, and overburdened by pressures and uncertainties, including around risks of exposure to doxxing and other toxic media targeting, losses of research funding, and syllabus/classroom content. This event will bring a panel together to surface these and other challenges and discuss strategies for addressing them. The panel will focus on both problems and solutions, with an emphasis on individual and collective paths forward.

Event Moderator: Jamila Michener
Discussion Panelists: David Bateman (Government), Suman Seth (Science and Technology Studies), Riche Richardson (Africana Studies), Neil Lewis Jr (Communication)