Debate
Building academic freedom
- Date
- Tuesday 25 November 2025
- Time
- Address
-
PLNT
Langegracht 70
2312NV Leiden - Room
- The Launch
We build academic freedom every day, and yet we only speak about it when we encounter its limits. Leiden University is inviting its students and staff to discuss academic freedom in everyday campus life. How do we uphold our motto Paesidium Libertatis, bastion of freedom – even when it takes a concerted effort to do so?
In recent years, social and political issues have caused tensions in our academic community. The question of whether the university should break its ties with Israeli institutions or with fossil fuel companies divided us. Many of us also struggle with how the essential freedom of speech can coexist with the equally essential diversity within our community. Such different viewpoints have raised significant concerns about our academic freedom, which makes it crucial that we discuss this together, as the rectors of the Dutch universities maintained in a joint statement earlier this year.
The first session in this series will be held in PLNT on 25 November (14:00-17:00 hrs). Leiden University is inviting its students and staff to a conversation about our core values, the blurred lines between politics and the academic debate, and how we shape academic freedom in everyday campus life. After the plenary introduction, participants will work in rotating breakout groups. In short 30-minute sessions, they will try to formulate answers to key questions such as:
- Do you think the university should give a platform to all political messages?
- What are the responsibilities that accompany academic freedom?
- Do you feel there are taboos within the academic community? If so, which ones?
Registration
Registration is required and is open until 23 November. You will need to produce a LU-Card at the entrance. The language spoken will be English, with the option to express yourself in other languages.