The Conference will convene regional experts at the University of Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs, in Washington D. C., United States
Click here to access the agenda | Register here
We are pleased to announce the 2024 Conference of the Coalition for Academic Freedom in the Americas (CAFA), to be held in Washington D.C., United States, 20-21 November 2024.
The Conference is co-hosted by CAFA and the Pulte Institute for Global Development–part of the Keough School of Global Affairs at the University of Notre Dame–with support from the Central America Research Alliance (CARA), Scholars at Risk (SAR), Universidad de Monterrey (UDEM), and the Human Rights Research and Education Centre (HRREC) at the University of Ottawa. Amid rapid democratic backsliding and worsening threats to education communities, the Conference is a critical opportunity to gather and reflect on the state of academic freedom in the hemisphere, to interact and learn from each other, and to explore possible strategies and collective actions that will help advance the respect, protection and fulfilment of this human right.
This marks CAFA’s third regional conference –the previous two were held in Monterrey, Mexico in 2022, followed by Curitiba, Brazil in 2023. At the upcoming meeting in Washington D.C., academics, students, human rights experts, and civil society representatives will discuss the fundamental challenges facing the full realisation of academic freedom as a human right. The conference will also be an important opportunity for many CAFA members to meet, strengthen relationships, and promote collective action.
Agenda. The keynote address will be delivered by Fabián Salvioli, human rights lawyer and professor at the University of La Plata, Argentina, who served as UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence (2018-2024). Panel discussions will explore key topics including Norms, policies and challenges for the implementation of academic freedom’, ‘The shrinking of academic spaces’, ‘Freedom of expression and academic freedom’, ‘Student mobilisation and organisation’, ‘Latin American perspectives on academic freedom’, ‘Protocols on gender-based violence’ and ‘Gender-based violence and sexual harassment’.
Participation will be hybrid and virtual registration is open to all. Register here.
Key information:
2024 Conference of the Coalition for Academic Freedom in the Americas (CAFA)
- Date: 20-21 November 2024
- Venue: Keough School of Global Affairs Washington Office, 1400 16th St. NW Washington D.C., United States
- Agenda: click here to access.
- Registration form: click here to access
On CAFA:
CAFA is a non-governmental and not-for-profit network, created in 2021, headquartered at the University of Monterrey (UDEM), Mexico. It was founded by Scholars at Risk, UDEM, and the Human Rights Research and Education Centre (HRREC) at the University of Ottawa. Its membership spans across the hemisphere, having established institutional relations with key partners from national and international settings. CAFA seeks the promotion, protection, and respect for academic freedom and university autonomy, with the goal of developing relevant human rights standards that serve to protect educational spaces, leverage human rights and strengthen democratic principles in the Americas.