IDS and the Sanctuary for Health Justice welcome Thirusha Naidu, PhD, the Canada Research Chair in Equity and Social Justice in Global Medical Education.
In moments of heightened political tension, academic freedom is rarely revoked outright. More often, it is slowly eroded through fear, exhaustion, reputational risk, and the normalization of silence. Drawing on historical and contemporary examples from the United States, South Africa under apartheid, Palestine, Iraq, and the United Kingdom, Thirusha examines how scholars, artists, and educators are disciplined not only institutionally but psychologically.
Interweaving critical theory, literary and poetic traditions, and pedagogical practice, she engages the work of artists, academics and scholars to reflect on how their writings illuminate how double consciousness, masking, and moral injury shape academic life—and how art, poetry, and collective practice have long served as both refuge and method in times of repression.
Rather than offering strategies for individual heroism, this talk reframes mental health as a collective, ethical, and pedagogical concern. It invites scholars, particularly those newly encountering constraints on speech in ostensibly free societies, to learn from histories of resistance where survival, creativity, and community were inseparable. At its core, the talk argues that protecting academic freedom requires more than defending speech; it requires sustaining the human beings who dare to speak.
Speaker
Dr. Thirusha Naidu, Canada Research Chair in Equity and Social Justice in Global Medical Education, Associate Professor, Department of Innovation in Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa.
Discussant
Prof Lyla Mehta, Professorial Research Fellow IDS.
Chair
Dr. Erica Nelson, Research Fellow, IDS.
How to watch
You can attend this event in-person or watch online on Zoom.
Accessibility
This event will take place in the IDS convening space on the 1st floor of the IDS Building. If you need to use a lift then press floor 1A.
If you have any accessibility issues then contact [email protected]
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