CALL FOR PAPERS

Webinar on “Academic Freedom under Pressure? New State and Social Challenges in a German-Italian Comparison”
24th – 25th September 2020
University of Milan

Academic freedom is currently under pressure. Even in Western democracies issues regarding the validity of scientific research and denial of dialogue between students and lecturers on social, gender and integration issues and, recently, challenges and restraints posed by Covid-19’s crisis are threatening the proposition that university research and teaching (still) enjoy autonomy and can rightfully claim it.
Attacks on scientific freedom come from different quarters and academia is fighting on several fronts. This is the fil rouge of a scientific dialogue between the German University of Administrative Sciences Speyer and the University of Milan, Department of Italian and Supranational Public Law. The Webinar’s goal is to open the discussion on questions concerning the threat to freedom of science by institutional constraints, economic issues and by social requirements, comparing the situations in Germany and Italy.
To this end, young scholars are invited to submit a paper exploring one of the following major themes, through the legal, economic, pedagogic or sociologic perspective:
1. Perspectives of communication and cooperation between experts and laypeople in science.
2. Role of "Citizen Science" as a means of increasing acceptance of academic researches.
3. Analysis of evaluation procedures as a suitable instrument for integrating social knowledge into science, and to assess the "quality" of such knowledge.
4. Bureaucratization of university activities between academic and administrative logic.
5. Role of ethics committees, usually considered a universal guarantee for the social conformity of research, not only in medicine.
6. Open Access publications between need for "transparency", intellectual property rights and academic freedom.
7. “No go areas”, trigger warnings and freedom of teaching.
8. Academic Freedom and Covid-19.

To answer the call submit the following:
 An abstract of 200-300 words.
 Head your abstract with the theme you have chosen among those provided above.
 A short bio.

Email your inquiries and applications to cfpmilanspeyer2020@unimi.it by 15th June 2020.

The paper will be assessed by a scientific advisory board consisting of Prof. L. Violini, Prof. C. Fraenkel-Haeberle, Prof. M. Seckelmann, Dr. G. Ragone and Dr. F. Magni.
When selecting the speakers, special attention will be paid to the aspect of cultural and interdisciplinary exchange, participation of scholars from different countries and gender balance.

Important dates
Application submission due date: 15th June 2020
Notification of acceptance: 15th July 2020
Webinar date: 24th -25th September 2020