The Impact of the War in Ukraine on Academic Freedom

Abstract

Chair – Daniela Irrera Università di Catania Speakers Iryna Maksymenko Odessa I. I. Mechnikov National University Nonna Mayer Sciences Po Paris Claudia Padovani University of Padova Olga Tokariuk, Center for European Policy Analysis Academic freedom has become a global concern in all regions and fields, involving scholars based both in illiberal and democratic countries. Discussions on political opinions, gender, religion, and ethnicity are becoming ever more highly contested and divisive. The ongoing Russian aggression in Ukraine has further intensified this debate. Scholars based in Ukrainian Universities have been brutally prevented from doing their job or forced to leave the country and try to continue elsewhere. At the same time, political and ideological bias affect academic debates on the war, especially in the media and social networks. Promoted by the ECPR Working Group on Academic Freedom, this roundtable intends to focus on these issues so as to facilitate a wider discussion on the rising concern affecting academic freedom in various contexts, starting from the war in Ukraine – as the main contemporary global event – but not limited solely to this.