Beyond This View
*All opinions are my own. They do not represent any organisation I am associated with*
As privileged as I am to have had the opportunity to present at EADTU i-HE2024 Conference in Cyprus, it never escaped my mind that less than 400km beyond this view from the conference venue not a single university remains in Gaza.
As we discussed the potential impact of Artificial Intelligence on Academic Integrity, AI was being utilized to automate the surveillance and murder Palestinians.
While we extolled the importance of inclusion and equity in higher education, ethnic cleansing, mass disabling and genocide were being perpetrated.
During our conversations on the importance of sustainability and the SDGs, ?an ecocide was unfolding with CO2 releases exceeding the annual emissions of 26 countries and regions combined.
As employability was lauded as a fundamental graduate attribute, hundreds of our academic colleagues, as well as medics, journalists and aid workers have been murdered for their vocation. Worldwide many employees have been victimised for standing in solidarity with Palestine.
These conversations were largely absent from the conference as they have been (in my experience) from higher education more generally.
How does this absence support the construction knowledge? Who does it serve? How are we acting in the service of education? Of humanity?
As an educational community we have a solemn responsibility to question, to speak the truth and demand accountability.
Instead, there is silence.
Mentor with Foróiges Mentoring Programme & Solace Café Volunteer
3 个月Really well said Ellen… “accountability” seems like a long lost word that has been buried under so much cruelty… I think humanity has been decenticised just due to the amount of women an kids murdered(how is there not international uproar when a hospital is bombed full of staff and patients)… I have hope that history won’t forget as we chat about the ongoing genocide in our homes and pubs though I’m generally silent due to the lack of real change I can make right now for Palestinians suffering :( but I’m always open to new ideas in not staying silent ???
Teaching & Learning Specialist | Passionate Educator | Change Maker | Coffee lover, traveller, and connector. Inspiring change and empowering educators and learners??
4 个月So true ??