SRHE Members must log-in< /a> to access memb er registration rates
\n \n
< span style="background:#FFFFFF\;">Overview< /b>
\n \nThreats to academic freedom ar e widely touted across the political spectrum\, fr om infringements on autonomy and free speech on th e one hand to the need for accountability and pro tection from harm on the other. Research shows how this debate is not limited to higher education al one but sits within wider global and nationally-sp ecific discourses that represent tensions between contested value.
\n \nThis session explores thi s topic from the student perspective in four diffe rent countries (Myanmar\, Ghana\, Belarus\, and Tu rkey\, with each presentation considering the soci opolitical context and students’ positioning withi n that. Across the talks and ensuing discussions w e will be exploring how students understand and ex perience academic freedom and what mediates this\, both socially as well as within their own specifi c (higher) education spaces. Attention in particu lar will be paid to the extent to which – and how – they are able to express agency in exercising ac ademic freedom in their own classrooms and wider e ducational contexts. This will include alternative \, informal\, university models\, ideology and pow er relations with staff\, and the sources and invi sibility of academic freedom violations.
\n \nSchedule
\n \n| \n 10.00 – 10.10 \n | \n <
td style="border-bottom:1px solid #000000\;width:4
81px\;padding:0in 7px 0in 7px\;border-top:1px soli
d #000000\;border-right:1px solid #000000\;border-
left:none\;" valign="top">\n |
| \n < span style="line-height:normal\;">10.10 – 10.35 \n | \n \n
< span style="line-height:normal\;">Including Q&A \n | \n
| \n 10.35 – 11.00 \n | \n
\n David Kyei-Nuamah: Academic Fr eedom of Students in Ghana’s Higher Education: liv ed experiences and ambivalent perspectives< /span> \n \nIncluding Q &A \n | \n
| \n
| \n \n <
p> |
\n
| \n 11.05 – 11.30 \n | \n \n Including Q&A< /span> \n | \n
| \n | \n | \n
| \n | \n | \n \n
< span style="font-family:Aptos\, sans-serif\;">< span style="font-size:11pt\;">Speaker bios
\n \nTin Maung Htwe is a Research Fellow at the Regional Center for Social Science and Sustainable Development (RCSD) at Chiang Mai University. His research focuses on migration\, education\, and hu man rights\, with a particular emphasis on how aca demic institutions serve as vehicles for resistanc e in authoritarian regimes.
\n \nDavid Kyei-Nuamah is a postdoctoral resear cher at the Faculty of Education\, East China Norm al University\, Shanghai\, China. His research exa mines governance mechanisms in Africa’s higher edu cation. He also uses indigenous African philosophi es to inform K-12 teaching pedagogies and curricul um.
\n \n < p style="text-align:justify\;margin-bottom:11px\;" >Ester Gallo is Associate Professor at t he University of Trento\, Department of Sociology and Social Research. She is the PI of the Jean Mon net Project: ‘European Societies and Academic Free dom’-ESAF: https://cjm.unitn.it/esaf/overview. Ester is also the PI for UniTrento within the recently funded Erasmu s Cooperation Partnership StAR – The Students at Risk Project< /span> (2025-2027) led by ESU and in cooperation with SAIH\, GSF\, UniTrento and UniPa dova. She is currently conducting research on forc ed migration and displacement in higher education with a focus on Turkish university students’ post- 2016 diaspora and on displaced scholars from the G lobal South in Europe. \n \n< span style="font-family:Aptos\, sans-serif\;">< span lang="en-us" style="font-size:11pt\;" xml:lan g="en-us">Cristina Mazzero is a PhD Candidate in Sociology and Social Res earch at the University of Trento\, where she also gained her MA in Sociology with a thesis on the e xperiences of academic freedom of exiled Belarusia n students. Her paper on student academic freedom won the first prize in the Essay Com petition launch ed by the OSUN Globa l Observatory on Academic Freedom. Her PhD research investigates the characteristics and implications of higher edu cation policies addressing the inclusion of displa ced students in Italian academia. She is also a mem ber of the Jean Monnet Project ESAF and of the StAR – The Students at Risk Project (2025-2027).
DESCRIPTION:SRHE Members must log-in to access member registra tion rates \n \n \n \n Facilitated and chaired by: Dr Richard Budd who is the co-convenor of the Stu dent Access and Experience Network. For more detai ls about the network and its activities\, please c lick here.\n \n \n \n Overview\n \n \n \n Threats to academic freedom are widely touted across the p olitical spectrum\, from infringements on autonomy and free speech on the one hand to the need for accountability and protection from harm on the oth er. Research shows how this debate is not limited to higher education alone but sits within wider gl obal and nationally-specific discourses that repre sent tensions between contested value. \n \n \n \n This session explores this topic from the student perspective in four different countries (Myanmar\ , Ghana\, Belarus\, and Turkey\, with each present ation considering the sociopolitical context and s tudents’ positioning within that. Across the talks and ensuing discussions we will be exploring how students understand and experience academic freedo m and what mediates this\, both socially as well a s within their own specific (higher) education spa ces. Attention in particular will be paid to the extent to which – and how – they are able to expre ss agency in exercising academic freedom in their own classrooms and wider educational contexts. Thi s will include alternative\, informal\, university models\, ideology and power relations with staff\ , and the sources and invisibility of academic fre edom violations.\n \n \n \n Schedule\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 10.00 – 10.10\n \n \n \n \n SRHE welcome and housekeeping\n \n \n \n Introduction and overview of the session by Richar d Budd\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 10.10 – 10.35\n \n \n \n \n Tin Maung Htwe: The Idea of a University for a Future Federal Myanmar: Student Civil Disobedience\, Counter-Hegemony\, a nd Decolonial Critical Pedagogy after the 2021 Cou p\n \n \n \n Including Q&A\n \n \n \n \n \ n \n \n 10.35 – 11.00\n \n \n \n \n David Kyei-Nuamah: Academic Freedom of Students in Ghana’s Higher Education: lived experiences an d ambivalent perspectives\n \n \n \n Including Q&A\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 11.00 – 11 .05\n \n \n \n \n Break\n \n \n \n \ n \n \n \n 11.05 – 11.30\n \n \n \n \n Ester Gallo & Cristina Mazzero: Restricted l earning\, engaged students: Understanding the effe cts of academic freedom violations on youth educat ion and activism in Turkey and Belarus\n \n \n \n Including Q&A\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 11.30 – 11.55\n \n \n \n \n Discussion \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n 11.55 – 12.0 0\n \n \n \n \n Concluding comments\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Speaker bios \n \n \n \ n Tin Maung Htwe is a Research Fellow at the Regio nal Center for Social Science and Sustainable Deve lopment (RCSD) at Chiang Mai University. His resea rch focuses on migration\, education\, and human r ights\, with a particular emphasis on how academic institutions serve as vehicles for resistance in authoritarian regimes.\n \n \n \n David Kyei-Nuama h is a postdoctoral researcher at the Faculty of E ducation\, East China Normal University\, Shanghai \, China. His research examines governance mechani sms in Africa’s higher education. He also uses ind igenous African philosophies to inform K-12 teachi ng pedagogies and curriculum. \n \n \n \n Ester Ga llo is Associate Professor at the University of Tr ento\, Department of Sociology and Social Research . She is the PI of the Jean Monnet Project: ‘Europ ean Societies and Academic Freedom’-ESAF: https:// cjm.unitn.it/esaf/overview. Ester is also the PI f or UniTrento within the recently funded Erasmus Co operation Partnership StAR – The Students at Risk Project (2025-2027) led by ESU and in cooperation with SAIH\, GSF\, UniTrento and UniPadova. She is currently conducting research on forced migration and displacement in higher education with a focus on Turkish university students’ post-2016 diaspora and on displaced scholars from the Global South i n Europe. \n \n \n \n Cristina Mazzero is a PhD Ca ndidate in Sociology and Social Research at the Un iversity of Trento\, where she also gained her MA in Sociology with a thesis on the experiences of a cademic freedom of exiled Belarusian students. Her paper on student academic freedom won the first p rize in the Essay Competition launched by the OSUN Global Observatory on Academic Freedom. Her PhD r esearch investigates the characteristics and impli cations of higher education policies addressing th e inclusion of displaced students in Italian acade mia. She is also a member of the Jean Monnet Proje ct ESAF and of the StAR – The Students at Risk Pro ject (2025-2027). \n \n CATEGORIES:Conference CALSCALE:GREGORIAN DTSTAMP;TZID=Europe/London:20260515T100000 DTSTART;TZID=Europe/London:20260515T100000 DTEND;TZID=Europe/London:20260515T120000 LOCATION:Online event - link will be provided\n United King dom\n URL:https://srhe.ac.uk/civicrm/event/info/?reset=1&id=790 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR