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About the Dawit Isaak Library and Banned Literature – Seminar series Democracy and Academic Freedom

What happens when words are banned? Using the Dawit Isaak Library’s collection of banned books, this seminar explores how freedom of expression is changing in Sweden and around the world.

Please note that this event will be held in Swedish.

Time: Tue 2025-12-09 12.10 - 13.00

Location: Zoom - no registration

Language: Swedish

Participating: Jens Zingmark and Ulrika Ahlberg, librarians Dawit Isaak-biblioteket

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More information on the Swedish web page. 

About the seminar series Democracy and Academic Freedom

Graphics for the seminar series

Welcome to the seminar series on democracy and academic freedom, a collaboration between KTH’s Faculty Council and KTH Library. During 2025, we will explore how these fundamental values are being challenged worldwide.

Previous seminars

  • Impressions from the U.S. – Friday, April 25 (in Swedish)

  • Public Challenges and the Responsibility of Universities – Friday, May 9 (in Swedish)

  • Libraries, Democracy, and Academic Freedom – Wednesday, May 21 (in Swedish)

  • The U.S. University System – Monday, June 2 (in Swedish)

  • Data Rescue in 2025  – Monday, September 29 (in English)

  • Academic Freedom and Democratic Regression: Examples from Southeast Asia – Thursday 6 November (in Swedish)

Why this matters
Academic freedom is a cornerstone of a functioning democracy. Universities are not only tasked with conveying knowledge, but also with fostering critical thinking, questioning established truths, and contributing to an open, fact-based public debate. When this freedom is threatened – by political influence, commercial interests, or self-censorship – not only does research risk losing credibility, but society at large becomes more vulnerable to misinformation and extremism.

We explore questions such as:

  • How can we defend academic freedom in our own context?

  • What trends are we seeing in Europe and Sweden?

  • What is the role of universities in promoting democratic values?

To the calendar