Can independent academic research survive?

These online panel discussions will take place at 4pm on a Wednesday once a month, but the topics are decided according to world events and are announced at the previous month’s event. Recordings are available on YouTube via the Global Georgetown channel: https://www.youtube.com/@GlobalGeorgetown/videos.

Independent academic research was once considered bipartisan and sensible. But drastic and sudden changes to research and development policy in the United States have disrupted the landscape. Budget cuts to science have fueled uncertainty around domestic projects, as well as the future of international cooperation. Meanwhile, in Europe, research faces challenges related to sustainable funding, bureaucratic hurdles, and data protection. In an era of ongoing political and economic strain, can independent research survive throughout the West? Can the global community uphold the integrity of research without succumbing to outside pressure or undermining advancements?

This discussion is part of the ongoing event series Free Speech at the Crossroads: International Dialogues. These events are sponsored by the Free Speech Project (Georgetown University) and the Future of the Humanities Project (Georgetown University, the Las Casas Institute and Campion Hall, Oxford), hosted by Georgetown University on Zoom.

Online. Free and open to all. Registration is  required.

John Drakakis, emeritus professor of English studies at the University of Stirling in Scotland, holds a PhD from the University of Leeds, as well as an honorary DLitt from the University of Clermont-Auvergne. He has published many articles in learned journals and chapters in books on Shakespeare, Jacobean literature and drama, media studies, modern critical theory, and cultural studies. He is a fellow of the English Association and an elected member of the Academia Europaea.

Jennifer Jones directs the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists. She provides leadership and guidance for the Center’s staff as they work together for strong and independent public science; a robust, transparent democracy; justice for overburdened communities; and the effective use of science in public policy. Previously, she led the Center for Environment and Society at Florida Gulf Coast University.

John O’Connor is the Regent of Blackfriars Hall and Studium, and Regent of Studies for the English Province of the Order of Preachers. He studied electronic engineering at the National University of Ireland, Galway. He holds a PhD in applied superconductivity and electron microscopy from the University of Oxford. He was a teaching fellow in philosophy at the University of Edinburgh and a lecturer in moral theology at the University of Glasgow.

Panelist #4 – TBD

Michael Scott (moderator), senior dean, fellow of Blackfriars Hall, Oxford, college adviser for postgraduate students, and a member of the Las Casas Institute. He also serves as senior adviser to the president of Georgetown University. Scott previously was the pro-vice-chancellor at De Montfort University and founding vice-chancellor of Wrexham Glyndwr University.

Sanford J. Ungar (moderator), president emeritus of Goucher College, is director of the Free Speech Project at Georgetown University, which documents challenges to free expression in American education, government, and civil society. Director of the Voice of America under President Bill Clinton, he was also dean of the American University School of Communication and is a former co-host of “All Things Considered” on NPR.

Contact:
Las Casas Institute with Georgetown University
lascasas@bfriars.ox.ac.uk