The OSUN Liberal Arts Collaborative, CEU Democracy Institute, and Defending Educational Freedom for Youth (DEFY) are sponsoring a livestreamed conversation between Michael Ignatieff, former Rector and President of CEU, and student leaders from New College of Florida representing the student activist group DEFY.
The discussion is an important opportunity for Professor Ignatieff to discuss with New College student leaders the lessons learned from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s assault on academic freedom in Hungary, including the expulsion of CEU. New College of Florida, a public liberal arts college, has recently been targeted by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis: half of its Board of Trustees has been replaced, its president dismissed, and new board members are threatening major changes to teaching and curricula, especially on issues pertaining to race and gender. In this context, New College can be seen as a microcosm of wider challenges to academic freedom taking place in Florida and across the US.
The talk will be moderated by Kyaw Moe Tun, head of the Open Society University Network’s Liberal Arts Collaborative and President of Parami University in Myanmar (now in exile).
Participants:
Michael Ignatieff, former President and Rector of CEU, 2016-2021, current Rector Emeritus and University Professor of History, CEU
New College student leaders from DEFY