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It\u2019s hard not to categorize our present global moment as a crisis. And just when we think things can\u2019t get worse \u2014 they do.<\/p>\n
Across the globe, we\u2019re witnessing a rise in far-right movements and governments.<\/p>\n
Just a few weeks ago,\u00a0the AfD party in Germany secured second place<\/a>. This marks the first time a far-right party has gained this level of power in the country since the Second World War. Germany is not alone in this trend:\u00a0Italy, Hungary, Finland, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Croatia are now led by far-right governments<\/a>.<\/p>\n And it may come as no surprise that many of these new leaders\u00a0are increasingly hostile towards universities<\/a>.<\/p>\n In India, under\u00a0Prime Minister Narendra Modi, universities have the lowest academic freedom since the 1940s<\/a>. In Brazil, former president Jair Bolsonaro claimed that public universities\u00a0transform students into leftists, gays, drug addicts and perverts.<\/a><\/p>\n Meanwhile in the United States, Vice President JD Vance has called universities the enemy for allegedly teaching\u00a0that America is \u201can evil, racist nation.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0(Vance was echoing\u00a0President Richard Nixon who called professors and the press the enemy<\/a>. President Donald Trump even signed an executive order demanding higher education institutions\u00a0dismantle their DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) programs<\/a>. He\u2019s also pulled federal funding from universities that allow\u00a0\u201cillegal protests\u201d<\/a>, and he\u2019s\u00a0demanded that Columbia University\u2019s Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies Departments be independently reviewed<\/a>.<\/p>\n But, despite this hostility, universities \u2014 and students \u2014 have historically been springboards for progressive change. It was student protests 25 years ago that\u00a0helped lead to the downfall of apartheid in South Africa<\/a>. More recently,\u00a0in Bangladesh, student protests helped topple the country\u2019s authoritarian leader<\/a>. This past year, students across the world have\u00a0worked to raise public awareness of acts of genocide in Gaza<\/a>.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, here in Canada, universities are facing financial pressure because of reductions in international student permits. This drop in revenue\u00a0has caused alarming budget constraints at universities<\/a>, revealing a deep reliance on international students as a revenue source.<\/p>\n This has led to existential questions about our universities. With today\u2019s world in crisis, what should the role of the university be? And why are our public universities so underfunded? And how can they continue to serve their communities?<\/p>\n Theses are big questions, ones that seemed fitting to tackle on our final episode of\u00a0Don\u2019t Call Me Resilient<\/em>\u00a0recorded live in front of an audience at the University of British Columbia. Joining us to tackle them was Annette Henry, a professor in the Department of Language and Literacy Education at UBC who is cross-appointed to the Institute for Race, Gender, Sexuality and Social Justice. Her work examines race, class, language, gender and culture in education for Black students and educators in Canada.<\/p>\n We also spoke with Michelle Stack, an associate professor in UBC\u2019s Department of Educational Studies whose work looks at educational policy, university rankings and equity and education.<\/p>\n At a time when critical conversations in higher education are under attack worldwide, can Canadian universities rise to the challenge and be a force for good?<\/p>\n How Commonwealth universities profited from Indigenous dispossession through land grants <\/a><\/p>\n Universities should respond to cuts and corporate influence with co-operative governance<\/a><\/p>\n Cops on campus: Why police crackdowns on student protesters are so dangerous<\/a><\/p>\n Student protests: How the university perpetuates colonial violence on campus<\/a><\/p>\nRead more:<\/strong><\/h4>\n