The main research question we explore in this session is how academic freedom and collegial governance are being undermined in universities in Europe and Canada.  Academic freedom is indispensable to the critical search for knowledge and central to the life of universities.  It enables faculty to espouse views and articulate theories that differ from those dominant in their disciplines and their society.  Since the goal of education is the public sharing of knowledge among those who seek it, academic freedom provides the ground for this process to take place.  Collegial governance has also enabled faculty to control the teaching and learning taking place in academic programs as essential features of the learning community, since they are the most qualified to do so.  However, the Bologna process in Europe has resulted in comparative standards among universities being used to determine the performance and policy recommendations of national governments.  In Sweden, political, professional, and commercial interests often influence what should be investigated and how it should be interpreted.  In Canada, reforms tied to “innovation in the knowledge economy” emanating from federal and provincial governments, as well as corporate lobby groups increasingly determine university policy and practice.  Because university administrations have done little to resist this trend, the scope of academic freedom is diminished and collegial governance eroded by forces both external and internal to European and Canadian universities. 

Our objectives include the following:

1.       To provide a full account of the key concepts of academic freedom and collegial governance;

2.       To explain how the twin processes of standardization and market-driven reforms are influencing European and Canadian universities;

3.       To assess the ways in which both processes are undermining academic freedom and collegial governance;

4.       To determine how teaching, learning, and research are all affected;

5.       To ensure that we recognize the differences between European and Canadian universities and the issues they face;

6.       To draw conclusions from our analysis that may benefit further research about universities in Europe and Canada;

7.       To enable faculty to become more aware of the importance of academic freedom and collegial governance.

The theoretical frameworks we employ are diverse, reflecting the research backgrounds of each presenter.  We utilize theories from the disciplines of higher education, sociology, public health, and philosophy in order to provide an inclusive and critical analysis of the situation facing European and Canadian universities.  In doing so, we draw upon our strengths in these fields, which are reflected in the references.  Our goal is to gain an interdisciplinary understanding of the ways in which academic freedom and collegial governance are currently threatened.  We examine the conditions for academic research in Sweden, focusing on public health research, policy, and education; we consider the bureaucratization of Canadian universities resulting from the demand to acquire external funding, and we analyze how this process undermines the goals of education and research as well as the participation of faculty in academic decision making.  And our overall aim is to provide theoretical understanding that furthers not only research but a belief in the importance of preserving and strengthening academic freedom.     

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