Seminar Series on Democracy and Academic Freedom

In this seminar, Professor Staffan I. Lindberg presents V‑Dem’s latest Democracy Report and introduces the institute’s global database on democracy. Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem) is one of the world’s largest databases (31 million data points) on democracy-related issues, with global funding and global participation. The data is freely accessible.

Professor Staffan I. Lindberg  founded and led the V‑Dem Institute from 2012 to 2025 and is now Head of the Policy Research Unit at the same institute. He is, among other things, the principal author of the annual Democracy Report – a comprehensive report published in three languages on the state of democracy worldwide.

This seminar is in Swedish. 

Read more and find the Zoom link in the calendar event. 

Recording of the seminar: Free to Think 2025

Free to Think  is an annual report by Scholars at Risk’s Academic Freedom Monitoring Project . The report explores concerning trends in attacks on higher education communities around the world with the aims of raising awareness and urging diverse state and non-state stakeholders to join us in protecting and promoting academic freedom. Recent years have seen a worrying increase in attacks on higher education in historically liberal and democratic contexts, often deploying similar measures, including threatening or withdrawing funding for institutions, banning disfavored topics, and targeting individual academics or students for harassment or dismissal because of what they teach, study, or say.

Amy Kapit  will present the findings of Free to Think 2025 in this seminar, describing recent trends in attacks on higher education, the current state of academic freedom globally, and the critical linkages between academic freedom and democracy. 

Read more and find the Zoom link in the calendar event. 

The Dawit Isaak Library  is a library containing books from around the world that have, at some point, somewhere and for various reasons, been censored, banned, or considered controversial. Using the collection as a starting point, librarians Ulrika Ahlberg and Jens Zingmark explore the conditions and boundaries of freedom of expression in Sweden and globally. The Dawit Isaak Library is located in Malmö and opened in September 2020.

The seminar was held in Swedish. 

Both emerging and stable democracies have, over the past decades, experienced democratic backsliding. Researchers and universities are increasingly caught in the crossfire, and the space for civil society is shrinking as authoritarian forces gain strength. With examples from Southeast Asia, Eva Hansson shows how restrictions on academic freedom can undermine democracy. How should we think about academic collaboration in an increasingly complex international context?

Eva Hansson is Deputy Director of the Stockholm Center for Global Asia  at the Department of Political Science, Stockholm University. She has extensive experience conducting research in, and collaborating with researchers and higher education institutions across several Southeast Asian countries.

Also participating are Nina Wormbs , Vice Dean, and Maria Haglund , University Librarian, who introduce the seminar series and discuss why it is important to talk about academic freedom as an issue with direct relevance for us here and now.

The seminar was held in Swedish. 

Recording of the seminar: Data rescue in 2025 

When federal statistical offices in the U.S. were dismantled and datasets removed, a coalition of organisations came together. By collaborating across initiatives, they have supported data rescue events and developed tools to safeguard and track threatened data.

This presentation by Lynda Kellam traces the development of the Data Rescue Project  – from its roots in the broader public data ecosystem to its role today. It also looks ahead, exploring possible paths for future data infrastructure in the U.S. and beyond.

Lynda Kellam is a dedicated research-focused librarian with deep academic expertise and a central role in the Data Rescue Project. She is the hub for coordinating, communicating, and mobilising volunteers and institutional collaborations to ensure access to valuable public data.

Also participating are Nina Wormbs , Vice Dean, and Maria Haglund , University Librarian, who introduce the seminar series and discuss why it is important to talk about academic freedom as an issue with direct relevance for us here and now.

Several of the world’s leading universities are located in the United States. They are highly successful, winning Nobel Prizes and attracting international researchers and students. But this has not always been the case. In this fourth event of the seminar series, Dag Blanck , Professor of North American Studies at Uppsala University, will speak about the American university system and its development.

Also participating are Nina Wormbs , Vice Dean, and Maria Haglund , University Librarian, who introduce the seminar series and discuss why it is important to address academic freedom as an issue of direct relevance for us here and now.

The seminar was held in Swedish.

Libraries have a mandate to promote the development of a democratic society by contributing to the dissemination of knowledge and the free formation of opinion. Free access to knowledge and freedom of expression are fundamental components of academic freedom. How can libraries safeguard their integrity as democratic educational institutions when there are increasing calls for tighter regulation based on political values?

This is the third event in the seminar series Democracy and Academic Freedom, featuring National Librarian Karin Grönvall .

Also participating are Nina Wormbs , Vice Dean, and Maria Haglund , University Librarian, who introduce the seminar series and discuss why it is important to address academic freedom as an issue of direct relevance for us here and now.

The seminar was held in Swedish. 

In an increasingly polarised public sphere, questions concerning the governance of universities and their institutional integrity have also come into focus. Developments in other countries, such as the United States and Hungary, are shaping the discussion in Sweden. But how has the relationship between knowledge and politics evolved over time? How does the situation in Sweden differ from that in the United States? What tendencies currently characterise Swedish research policy? And what responsibility do universities have for safeguarding the autonomy of democratic institutions?

In this seminar, we meet Anders Ekström , Professor of History of Ideas at Uppsala University, whose research broadly addresses changes in the public sphere and the role of universities in society. Drawing on current research, he discusses how higher education and research can protect openness and critical thinking–and what responsibility institutions of higher education bear when public discourse is under pressure.

Also participating are Nina Wormbs , Vice Dean, and Maria Haglund , University Librarian, who introduce the seminar series and discuss why it is important to talk about academic freedom as an issue with direct relevance for us here and now.

The seminar was held in Swedish. 

In the opening seminar, President Anders Söderholm  and Anna Kiefer , the President’s Advisor on International Affairs, share their experiences from two study trips to the United States in March 2025.

Also participating are Nina Wormbs , Vice Dean, and Maria Haglund , University Librarian, who introduce the seminar series and discuss why it is important to talk about academic freedom as an issue with direct relevance for us here and now.

The seminar was held in Swedish.