Authors

Daniel Healey²; Megi Kartsivadze¹; Timothy Blauvelt⁴; David Jishkariani⁵; Lia Tsuladze³;  ¹ University College London, UK;  ² University of Oxford, UK;  ³ Center for Social Science, Georgia;  ⁴ American Councils / Ilia State University, Georgia;  ⁵ Max Weber Network Eastern Europe, Georgia, Georgia

Discussion

The roundtable focuses on the threats to academic freedom currently faced by higher education institutions in Georgia. It discusses major aspects of the ruling party's National Concept of Higher Education Reform and its implications for Georgia's higher education in terms of institutional and financial autonomy, centralized control over curricula, student quotas and staffing decisions, restrictions of freedom of research and opportunities of internationalization, etc. The case of Ilia State University, which is one of the most vocal in resisting this reform and hence is a particular target of the ruling party's repressions, is under special focus.