Date: September 22   Time: 20:00 - 22:00

Skeptics in the Castle is a free monthly event brought to you by the Cork Skeptics

Join Dr. Tom Moore for….

Academic Freedom – In Theory and In Practice

Academic freedom encapsulates the idea that academics must be able to freely research and discuss controversial or politically unpopular ideas without suffering repression, job loss, or imprisonment. There is an extensive history of repression of academics for expressing unpopular ideas, for example in the former Soviet Union.

In contrast, in the United States, freedom of speech is to some extent guaranteed under the First Amendment. The breadth of academic freedom may be subject to various constraints where it intersects with employment law, commercialisation, religious freedom, and social responsibility. In Ireland, the 1997 Universities Act provides a robust statement of academic freedom.

During this Cork Skeptics meeting Moore will outline some key historical cases and discuss how the Irish approach to academic freedom performs in practice.

An insight in to the speaker….

Dr. Tom Moore teaches and researches the genetics and physiology of embryonic development and human pregnancy. A veterinary surgeon by training, he did his PhD studies at the University of London and postdoctoral research in Cambridge, UK. He is currently a senior lecturer in the Department of Biochemistry, UCC.

This is a free event, open to all