Dan Awarded SSHRC Insight Grant for #safespaces

Dan O’Donnell has been awarded a SSHRC Insight Development Grant for his project, “#safespaces? Speaker-Centred Rights, Discursive Power, and the Changing Stakes in Debates about Academic Freedom.” The project examines how academic freedom is being challenged by changing ideas about speech, power, inclusion, and institutional responsibility. It asks why current debates about academic freedom have become so difficult, and how universities can better understand the relationship between individual speech rights and the effects that speech can have on others.

The grant will support O’Donnell’s research into the history, theory, and policy of academic freedom, while also creating opportunities for student research assistants to gain experience in bibliographic work, annotation, writing, and publication. Through academic publications, public-facing writing, and presentations, the project aims to provide a clearer understanding of academic freedom and contribute to more thoughtful conversations about its role in contemporary university life.

Congratulations Dan!