Abstract

Universities across much of the English-speaking world have become corporatized in the way they are governed and through the various partnerships they form with large trans-national corporations. My lecture will consider what the implications of this trend are for activist academics who wish to challenge structures of power and privilege. The ability to be an activist as part of one’s academic role is a crucial part of academic freedom and enables a strong voice for the public good.

Presented by
Professor Fran Baum

Fran Baum is Director of Stretton Health Equity, University of Adelaide and previously was a Matthew Flinders Distinguished Professor at Flinders University. She has just completed a term as co-Chair of the Global Steering Council of the People’s Health Movement, a global network of health activist. She received an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for her public health service. She is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences and of the Australian Health Promotion Association. She is a past National President and Life Member of the Public Health Association of Australia. She is author of The New Public Health (2016, OUP) and Governing for Health (2019 OUP). She is just starting a NHMRC Investigator Fellowship which provides funding for research entitled “Restoring the Fair Go: which policies and practices are likely to reverse growing health inequities post-COVID-19.