Keynote speaker: Snježana Prijić–Samaržija, Rector of University of Rijeka, Croatia.
This event is part of CEU Higher Education Research Group's event series entitled University in the spotlight and dedicated to exploring the responsibility of universities (and its members) to engage with society in times when there is pressure for universities to get actively engaged with global matters and events. What constitutes a legitimate reason for universities to speak out on particular issues publicly and what is the impact of such political positioning within and outside a university community? Do such actions turn universities into political actors, and if so, does it compromise the core values of academia, such as academic freedom?
The event will consist of a keynote speech by the invited speaker, followed by a student-led panel discussion with guests and a Q&A session. The event will be rounded off with a reception in the student lounge.
About the event series "University in the spotlight"
The purpose of this event series co-organised by the student-led Higher Education Research Group and the Yehuda Elkana Centre for Teaching, Learning and Higher Education Research is to initiate a wide-ranging discussion among CEU community members with invited national and international guests on current topics gripping higher education in the world today. The topics are selected based on the particular significance they bear to the activities of CEU and other Austrian universities at this particular point in time. The thematic focus of the events is therefore based around topics that affect the role that CEU and its constituents play in a context of a politically polarised world and in their new location in Austria.
Bio of the keynote speaker: Snježana Prijić-Samaržija is the rector of the University of Rijeka in Croatia and a full professor at the Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. She is the author of 5 books, the editor of 13 companions and the author of more than 70 articles. The main areas of her philosophical interest are epistemology, social philosophy, history of philosophy and gender studies. She is the director of Centre for Advanced Studies South East. She is involved in the management of the YUFE European University Alliance that her university is part of and she has also been active at national and European level in discussions around higher education policies.
Austrian speaker: Mitchell G. Ash is Professor Emeritus of Modern History at the University of Vienna, Austria, and a member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities as well as the European Academy of Sciences and Arts. Among his many projects and publications, he has nurtured a special interest in the political history of universities.