On Human Rights Day, the Canadian Section of Scholars at Risk (SAR Canada) hosted a virtual roundtable moderated by Professor Nandini Ramanujam of the Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism at McGill University. Esteemed panelists tackled the timely question of how to safeguard scholars, scholarship, and institutions of higher education in the midst of a pandemic.
Carleton was well-represented on the panel. Co-Director of SAR Carleton, Andrew Johnston, joined Stuart Murray (Canada Research Chair in Rhetoric & Ethics at Carleton) and incoming SAR Carleton Scholar Shuchi Karim, along with Robert Quinn (Founding Executive Director, Scholars at Risk), Eva Egron-Polak (Former Secretary General, International Association of Universities) and Nathalie Des Rosiers (Principal of Massey College, University of Toronto) for a discussion of the role and importance of academic freedom, particularly in the context of COVID-19; and the economic and social effects on academic faculties, research groups, and knowledge communities who rely on communal interaction and support to advance their work.
The roundtable was recorded and can be seen here.