The Cancel Culture and Academic Freedom Debate: An All-American Export?

Recording of the lecture in German

Lecture of 13 December 2023
Welcome Adress: Prof. Michael Schaepman, Rector UZH, Moderation: Dr. Felix Koch

Does cancel culture pose a threat to academic freedom? Is it even the single largest threat to academic freedom? What do we actually understand these concepts to mean? This lecture delves into the long history of this discourse, which, featuring ever-changing terminology, has been going on for decades, particularly in the US. It is an attempt to pinpoint the subtle yet noticeable shifts that have taken place within the discourse over the past decades; these shifts are above all linked to the attention of a wider audience – be it academic or non-academic. More specifically, they concern the phenomena which gain – or fail to gain – our attention when we talk or think about universities and their roles.