What does neutral actually mean here? - Dealing with attacks on universities

The bukof commission "Antifeminism at universities" invites you to an online event on Friday, 20 February from 11.00 am - 1.00 pm

Universities are under pressure. Academic freedom is under threat, but its supposed protection is also being instrumentalised. Participation in campaigns such as "Universities take a stand" is rejected by some university stakeholders with reference to a "duty of neutrality", although they point out the original responsibility of universities to defend the academic system as an essential basis for the demo-cratic constitutional state.

What rights and obligations, what room for manoeuvre and limits do universities have as a public-law and constitutionally protected place of knowledge transfer and knowledge acquisition? What does "neutrality" mean - defencelessness against right-wing extremist and anti-democratic movements, language bans, objectivity of science, space for all opinions, moderation under civil service law, party-political abstinence, advocacy of pluralistic democracy?

Prof. Dr Ulrike Lembke, independent legal scholar & expert in legal gender studies, will take up the intensive debates on "academic freedom and the neutrality requirement", present the current legal situation and discuss possible courses of action that can strengthen the resilience of universities and their members.

The event is jointly organised by the Diversity and Anti-Discrimination Unit of Kiel University, the Equal Opportunities Team of the Faculty of Education Sciences at the University of Hamburg and the Equal Opportunities/Anti-discrimination Unit of the University of Bremen.