On the Berlin Educational Freedom Week 2025 at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, President Julia von Blumenthal introduced the keynote speaker Prof. Nazan Maksudyan within the Senatssaal on April 2, 2025 in her welcoming handle:
Expensive Prof. Maksudyan, (Keynote speaker)
Distinguished visitors,
Women and Gents,
Good afternoon. It’s a nice pleasure to welcome you to the ultimate occasion of the third Educational Freedom Week at Humboldt-Universität. Once we began this sequence of occasions, we had been frightened by the state of affairs of students in authoritarian regimes orin the state of affairs of struggle and violent battle. We didn’t envision what we’re seeing immediately, that Educational Freedom is beneath risk worldwide. The most recent Educational Freedom Index sheds mild on the truth that even democracies should not immune in opposition to threats to tutorial freedom. We take a look at the occasions unfolding in the US with deepest concern, the place college students are arrested beneath doubtful accusations, the place world main universites are battling a state of affairs they arenot ready for.
The Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin is based on a deep conviction: the pursuit of information shapes and enriches all human capacities. It is without doubt one of the strongest forces driving the humanization of our societies. Excellence can solely thrive with tutorial freedom.
On the identical time, with our lengthy historical past of analysis and tutorial excellence, as Humboldt Universität we’re based on values: we oppose all types of discrimination, we oppose antisemitism, authoritarianism, and fanaticism — a lesson from our previous that resonates strongly immediately. These values create particular person duty for our students to reflecton the implications of their analysis. On this regard they type a restrict for educational freedom that’s in any other case with out borders.
Our college stands for each, tutorial / scientific freedom, basic values and societal duty. At Humboldt-Universität, we’re deeply dedicated to solidarity and assist for in danger students and college students. This dedication is mirrored in our lively efforts to help those that face persecution and violence due to their tutorial work.
Because of the excellent assist of the Alexander von Humboldt Basis’s Philipp Schwartz Initiative and the Einstein Basis Berlin’s Educational Freedom Fellowship, Humboldt Universität has been capable of assist greater than 60 students from 12 international locations, together with Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Afghanistan, and Gaza. These researchers, from various fields similar to philosophy, literature, biology, chemistry, geography, and legislation, have discovered a protected atmosphere to proceed their work.
Our dedication additionally extends to at-risk college students. Applications just like the Refugee Legislation Clinic and the Welcome Centre for Ukrainian refugee college students mirror our dedication to offering assist and alternatives. In difficult occasions like these, collective motion is crucial. I’m delighted that we have now introduced collectively such a various group of actors at Humboldt-Universität – all working for and with at-risk researchers and artists.
This 12 months’s Educational Freedom Week bridges regional and worldwide views. It brings collectively at-risk students from Berlin and Brandenburg with colleagues and mentors from native universities. None of this might have been doable with out the invaluable contributions of our at-risk Fellows from HU, Europa-Universität Viadrina, and Kunsthochschule Weissensee. We additionally lengthen our gratitude to our colleagues and companions from the Berlin Centre for International Engagement, Universität der Künste, and the Einstein Basis Berlin.
We’re additionally honored to welcome our worldwide visitors: the New College in Exile Consortium. This initiative continues the legacy of theNew Faculty, based in 1933 by Alvin Johnson to supply a protected mental house to students fleeing the rise of Nazism in Europe.
In coming days, we are going to host the Philipp Schwartz Initiative Discussion board, that has been turning Berlin right into a stage for educational freedom from March thirty first till April 4th. Collectively, we are going to discover what tutorial solidarity seems to be like in a world the place even international solidarity itself is beneath risk. The gathering of native and worldwide actors throughout this Educational Freedom Week presents one doable reply. I’m assured that the Discussion board will present many extra.
Let me conclude: the actual fact, that even in established democracies tutorial freedom shouldn’t be unchallenged remind us of the necessity for vigilance and solidarity in defending the rules that underpin our tutorial communities. We’d like tutorial freedom, we want a deep understanding within the political sphere how essential tutorial freedom is for the event of science, training and our societies as an entire. We as universites bear duty for the protection of educational freedom and for the protection of thefundamental values we stand for. For immediately’s challenges it’s good to look again in historical past. To see, what we will be taught.
Expensive Prof Maksudyan, you’ll now discuss in regards to the experiences of German-Jewish refugee students in Turkey throughout the Nineteen Thirties and 40s.
I’m very a lot wanting foward to this keynote and thank everybody concerned within the 2025 Educational Freedom Week.
Prof. Maksudyan, the ground is yours.
