The Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana is set to host a series of high-powered roundtable discussions on academic freedom in August 2022.

The discussions will take place in three separate but interconnected parts on the 11^th, 19^th and 25^th at the Great Hall.

The overarching theme for the roundtable discussions is “Academic Freedom and the African University: Contemporary Issues in Ghana’s Higher Education”, and will bring together leading scholars as well as students of the University of Ghana to deliberate on a myriad of issues facing higher education in Ghana.

In all, there will be 15 speakers during the three evening conversations. The programme is also expected to offer an enduring platform for critical unpacking of the multi-layered sources of the current challenges facing the Ghanaian university and to generate a repertoire of resources to apply against threats to academic freedom and university autonomy. 

In a statement issued by the University on August 3, 2022, it noted that: “considering that issues about higher education are not or should not be of interest to the university community alone, the panels and the issues for discussion have been packaged in a way as to involve the general public as well”.

The panels will address a variety of sub-themes including; Coloniality in the Structures of Higher Education in Ghana; Academic Freedom and Academic Sovereignty; Decolonising Academic Freedom; Decolonising the Law Faculties; Africanisation and Curriculum Revision; Education, Gender, and Development; African Feminism and Academic Freedom; Double-track & the Challenges to Facility.

Other topics include the Quality of Research, Recognition and Promotion; Scholar Activism and the Public Intellectual; The Future of Higher Education in Ghana; The Corporate University and University Autonomy; The Crisis of Campus Accommodation; Higher Education and Graduate Employability; Faculty-Student Relationship and Democracy in the Classroom; Academic Freedom and Academic Traditions; The High cost of Academic Self-Determination.

The event will also show a film documentary on Academic Freedom.

The programme will be available in a hybrid format to allow for both in-person and online participation.