- Event: Conference on Academic Freedom and the Inclusive
University - Speakers include: Tom Berger, Peter Emberley, John Fekete,
Stanley Fish, Jack Granatstein, Lorna Marsden, Stan Persky, Judy
Rebick, and Bernard Shapiro - Date: April 10-12, 1997
- Time: Events begin at 5:30 p.m. (April 10); 9:00 a.m.
(April 11 and 12) - Place: Various locations on UBC campus
- Cost: $125. No charge for students
For information on conference content, call 604.822.1460. For registration
information, call 604.822.1050.Political correctness.
Chilly climates. Charges of racism and sexism. Fears of free speech
stifled. These issues have generated heated and divisive debate
at many universities in recent years.
A conference to be held at the University of British Columbia April
10-12 will tackle these and many other related topics in an effort
to foster greater understanding among the often antagonistic viewpoints.
UBC President David Strangway called the conference more than a
year ago as part of the healing process at the university following
allegations of racism and sexism in the Political Science Dept.
The conference’s central focus will be how to welcome previously
excluded groups to universities, where the new issues of inclusiveness
often clash with traditional academic principles, says Dennis Pavlich,
associate vice-president, Academic and Legal Affairs.
“The McEwen Report into the Political Science case looked at a
range of issues which had divided the campus community. One of those
issues was academic freedom and how that can accommodate the relatively
new values the university must adopt in order to welcome different
groups to campus,” he says.
“I am confident that the conference speakers and participants will
emerge with many good ideas about how these different values can
be reconciled.”
Titled Academic Freedom and the Inclusive University, the conference
brings together prominent academics and commentators to discuss
ways of clarifying issues and resolving conflicts.
Conference organizers have also scheduled ample opportunity for
participation from audience members, including workshops, discussion
groups and question periods after each panel presentation.
Among the speakers scheduled to appear at the conference are: York
University historian Jack Granatstein; Stan Persky, a Capilano College
instructor and political commentator; Carleton University’s Peter
Emberley, author of Hot Button Politics; Judy Rebick, former
head of the National Action Committee on the Status of Women and
host of the CBC-TV program Face Off; McGill University Principal
Bernard Shapiro, who will deliver the keynote address; Lorna Marsden,
president of Wilfrid Laurier University; and former UBC Board of
Governors member Tom Berger.
Two speakers, John Fekete, professor of cultural studies at Trent
University and author of In Moral Panic, and Duke University’s
Stanley Fish will be featured at the Vancouver Institute lecture
on April 12, which is free of charge. The lecture takes place at
8:15 p.m. in Lecture Hall 2 of the Woodward Instructional Resources
Centre at 2194 Health Sciences Mall.
All are welcome to attend the conference. The fee of $125 includes
admission to all conference sessions, dinner on Friday and lunch
Saturday. Admission for students is free, but does not include social
events.
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