Book Launch: Dina Kiwan, Academic Freedom and the Transnational Production of Knowledge.

This event promises to delve into the intricate and often heated debates surrounding the concept of academic freedom, examining its implications and challenges within a global framework. Professor Kiwan’s work draws on extensive and rich empirical data collected from four diverse country contexts: Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States (US). Through this comprehensive analysis, the book sheds light on how academic freedom is perceived and practiced across different sociopolitical landscapes, offering valuable insights into the role it plays in the production of knowledge worldwide.

Professor Kiwan will be introduced by Professor Adam Tickell, Vice Chancellor and Principal of the University of Birmingham and will then engage in discussion with Professor Sari Hanafi, Professor of Sociology, American University of Beirut, Lebanon.

The event will be hybrid, you may join us in person or online. A link to the meeting will be shared via email prior to the event.

Agenda

18:00- 18:10   Opening remarks, Professor Adam Tickell, VC, University of Birmingham
18:10- 18:40   Reflections, Professor Dina Kiwan, University of Birmingham
18:40- 18:55   Respondent Discussion, Professor Sari Hanafi, American University of Beirut, Lebanon (via online link)
18:55- 19:15   Questions from audience
19:15- 19:30   Refreshments

Synopsis

Public debates globally on academic freedom have become increasingly contentious. Understandings of what it pertains to and its purposes are contested within the academy, policymakers and the general public. There has been scant attention to the sociopolitical and educational implications of internationalisation and increased social diversification of higher education globally for understanding the role of academic freedom in knowledge production; there is also a dearth of empirical research particularly outside of the Global North. This book critically examines the understudied relationship between academic freedom and its role in knowledge production in four country contexts (Lebanon, UAE, UK and US) through the lived experiences of academics conducting ‘controversial’ research. This contextualised approach informs how changing sociopolitical contexts in global perspective shape constructions of academic freedom. The book articulates an empirically-informed transnational theory of academic freedom contesting the predominantly national constructions of academic freedom and the methodological nationalism of the field.