What happens when universities shift from being spaces of critical thinking and public knowledge to institutions shaped by market logic? In this episode, we explore the transformation of higher education under neoliberalism—how academia has moved away from its traditional role and into a system driven by efficiency metrics, privatization, and corporate partnerships.Andrea Pető, Dina Gusejnova, Elena Trifan, and Tania Arcimovich discuss the tension between liberal, neoliberal, and illiberal universities, the precarious conditions of academic labor, and how these forces impact both students and faculty. They also examine the inequalities within academic mobility and the broader implications for knowledge production in a time of polycrisis.Join us as we critically assess the current state of academia and discuss alternatives for a more inclusive and egalitarian university system.

In this interview, Grzegorz Pac, Professor at the Faculty of History of the University of Warsaw, discusses his on-going research into the cult of saints and canonisation in Medieval Poland.  Through a case study of the canonisation of St Stanislaus of Krakow, Grzegorz focusses on how a saint, particularly a popular and highly venerated saint, could confer symbolic capital onto a specific church, diocese and individual bishops or archbishops.  And in turn, how this symbolic capital offers the beneficiaries greater status and power within the ecclesiastical hierarchy.  In addition, Grzegorz considers how the medieval process of canonisation, while becoming more formalised, was more difficult and less effective in the newly Christianised regions peripheral to the centre of Christianity in Rome.This podcast is part of a series of interviews covering central Europe in the medieval period for MECERN and CEU Medieval Studies.

A mintegy 700 ezer Szovjetunióba vitt hadifogoly és civil internált sorsa abszolút tabu volt a szocializmus évtizedei alatt. A rendszerváltás után azonban berobbant a memoár irodalom, és megalakultak a fogságba esett magyarok és elhurcoltak emlékét őrző szervezetek is. A szovjet fogság története mára a második világháborúval kapcsolatos kutatások legdinamikusabban fejlődő ágazatává vált. Az előadás a fogolykérdés historiográfiáját mutatja be és rámutat arra is, hogy, hogyan használja fel, miként kezeli a témát az emlékezetpolitika.

In this episode, we explore the often-overlooked struggles of at-risk scholars, focusing on the absence of Belarus in discussions on academic freedom, the gendered dimensions of displacement, and the systemic exclusions within global academia. Tania Artemovich discusses how Belarusian scholars have been marginalized in protection programs, despite facing decades of repression, while also addressing the challenges female migrant scholars face in securing recognition and support. Dina Gusejnova, Andrea Pető, Bernard Kleeberg, and Elena Trifan further examine the structural barriers, knowledge production gaps, and the geopolitical hierarchies that shape academic mobility.This episode challenges us to rethink the narratives of academic displacement and calls for a more inclusive, equitable approach to knowledge production and integration.

In this episode of Protecting Academia at Risk, we explore the urgent challenges facing universities today, from the rise of right-wing movements in Europe to the ongoing struggles of displaced and at-risk scholars. Together with Andrea Pető, Dina Gusejnova, Bernhard Kleeberg, Tania Arcimovich, Nadiya Kiss, and Elena Trifan, we discuss how universities can reclaim their role as spaces of free thought and critical inquiry.We reflect on the structural barriers that prevent meaningful academic integration, the failures of transnational organizations in protecting scholars at risk, and the broader implications of the neoliberalization of higher education. From the crisis of academic mobility post-Brexit to the contradictions within the EU’s approach to academic freedom, this conversation unpacks the layered complexities shaping the future of knowledge production.

A pesti gettót hozták létre utoljára a II. világháború alatt. Ebben az előadásban a gettó rövid történetéről, illetve a gettólakók által átélt érzelmekről van szó: milyen fontosabb eseményekhez, helyszínekhez kapcsolódóan számoltak be érzéseikről a túlélők? Hogyan írták le azokat? Milyen szerepük volt az érzelmeknek a gettólakók életében?

In this interview, Merike Kurisoo, Director, Niguliste Museum, Tallinn, discusses her work on the Rode Altarpiece and how it enables ‘time travel’ to the 1480s.The Niguliste Museum (branch of the Art Museum of Estonia) is based in the medieval St Nicholas ( Niguliste ) Church in central Tallinn.  One of the most important items in its collection is the massive and stunning beautiful altarpiece by Herman Rode of Lübeck.  Based on documents in the Tallinn City Archives, Merike describes how the unique altarpiece was commissioned for St Nicholas Church by the major guilds of the city; how funds for the work were collected from the wider congregation, and finally how the altarpiece was delivered in August 1481 and erected in place by workmen from Lübeck.  Merike extends the story of the Rode Altarpiece to the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, as the work and City Archives were evacuated and returned to Tallinn due to wars and peace. Today Tallinn clearly loves and is proud of its medieval history and art.Workshop of the Lübeck master Hermen Rode. Retable of the High Altar of St Nicholas’ Church in Tallinn. 1478–1481https://nigulistemuuseum.ekm.ee/en/the-retable-of-the-high-altar-of-st-nicholas-church/Books:https://pood.ekm.ee/en/et/rode-altar-tallinn-niguliste-church-main-altar-retable/ https://pood.ekm.ee/en/et/rode-altar-side-view/This podcast is part of a series of interviews covering central Europe in the medieval period for MECERN and CEU Medieval Studies.

In this episode of Protecting Academia at Risk, we explore the evolving landscape of risk in academia. Instead of framing risk only as a threat to individual academics facing persecution, this conversation expands the lens to examine systemic risks to academic institutions, knowledge production, and academic freedom. How do shifting political landscapes, neoliberal policies, and illiberal interventions shape the academic space? How can we rethink academic freedom beyond free speech debates? And what does it mean to foster a thriving academic community in these turbulent times?

In this episode, Elena Trifan, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Erfurt, delves into her research on at-risk academics within the Romanian higher education system. With a background in anthropology and sociology, Elena offers a unique lens shaped by her academic journey and personal connection as a first-generation scholar.Her research explores Romania’s position as a peripheral EU country, traditionally known for exporting skilled labor, and examines its evolving higher education landscape. From navigating neoliberal reforms and addressing systemic inequalities to grappling with far-right nationalism and racism, Elena highlights the challenges and transformations shaping the experiences of displaced scholars in Romania.Focusing on Ukrainian academics and intersecting vulnerabilities faced by women and queer scholars, she investigates identity, professional success, and strategies for career resilience amidst a backdrop of systemic delays in academia’s response to social and political shifts. With a gender-sensitive perspective and qualitative methodology, Elena sheds light on the complexities of forging a scholarly identity within a receiving academic environment unaccustomed to its new role.

In this interview, Jessica Knowles discusses her current research into the apocalyptic stained-glass window in St Martha’s pilgrim hospice church in Nuremberg, comparing it to apocalyptic windows in All Saints, North Street in York, northern England.Jessica is considering St Martha’s window in its fullest context of the late-fourteenth century.  Therefore, this includes not only the images and the surviving text surrounding the images, but also the story these images and texts told, and how this story fitted with the stories told by adjacent windows in St Martha’s.  In addition, she considers the people who saw the window and the ways in which they would have seen and experienced it, also the people who paid for the window and how they benefited from this donation and memorial.  Jessica concludes that, although today we see the apocalyptic images and windows as perhaps negative as the physical world burns and is destroyed, late medieval people would probably have seen them as positive, hopeful and an image of the salvation of their souls.This podcast is part of a series of interviews covering central Europe in the medieval period for MECERN and CEU Medieval Studies.