Universities in Exile Consortium - FSC Talk with Dr. Simten Cosar

Academic Freedom in Neoliberal Times Under the Pandemic Conditions

This presentation focuses on the state of academic everyday life in neoliberal times. It starts from the argument that neoliberalization of higher education brought in new risks for academic freedom. The risks are most manifest during crisis times, which usually host space for the rise of autocratic rule. Turkey has been experiencing neoliberalization since the 1980’s, certainly with fluctuations in policy practices.

Speaker Bio:
Dr. Simten Coşar is a feminist political scientist who is currently a UIE visiting scholar at the University of Pittsburgh. She has published in English and Turkish on Turkish politics, feminist politics, and political thought. She has been conducting research on feminist encounters in the neoliberal academia. Dr. Cosar has been involved with the feminist movement in Turkey.