The conference will be organized by CISRus (Center for Independent Social Research) and Central Asia Program at George Washington University with generous support of Tashkent State University of Economics.

We aim to foster interdisciplinary dialogue on the following broad themes:

● Understanding academic freedom: philosophical definition, legal understanding, and boundaries, reconceptualization based on boundary cases.

●  Challenges to academic freedom: research on individual issues, mutual influence of significant challenges of recent years (pandemics, wars, right-wing radicalism, neo-managerialism, and others).

●  Protecting academic freedom: legal actions, community practices, and emerging tools (decentralized science, platform collaboration, etc.).

We welcome theoretical and empirical studies that shed light on these topics, offering fresh perspectives and insights into the evolving landscape of academic freedom. At the same time, we welcome submissions from practitioners who can offer reflections on the topics above from an applied perspective, including potential changes in educational policy, which should also be considered an integral part of the reflection on the state and development of academic freedom worldwide.

The conference will be conducted in English.