Miscellaneous
Brexit, fake news, political polarization and now Covid19 are pushing an unprecedented number of academics into the public arena. They reframe the public debate, by making it more informed, and oftentimes taking sides. Yet, academics are not trained for this, and this is not even what their Universities expect them to do. Why then more academics engage with society and some embrace activism? Fiorella Lavorgna discussed the role of academics can and should place in civil society with Professors Alberto Alemanno, legal scholar and political activist, and Jenny Pickerill, a human geographer and engaged academic from the University of Sheffield.