Danish universities to cut ties to Russia and Belarus<\/a><\/em><\/p>\nShe is still in doubt about the details of what a halt to collaboration<\/em> actually means. It is one thing to stop institutional agreements with universities, but should you, for example, also stop working with individual researchers at state universities? Tine Roesen is not quite certain about this.<\/p>\n\u00bbI hear it more as a call to action rather than a completely fixed set of rules. We are still starting, and we need to find out what is going on.\u00ab<\/p>\n
Her plan, so far, is for individual researchers at Eastern European Studies to take a look at which of the Russian researchers that they can vouch for working with.<\/p>\n
\u00bbAnd we can always report back to management if we are in doubt. I’m sure we’ll find a solution,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n
Building new bridges<\/h3>\n
Tine Roesen prefers that UCPH researchers continue to work with selected researchers \u2013 even though they work at state-affiliated universities.<\/p>\n
\u00bbWe hope that we will not have to cut off every single researcher from all state-linked institutions. In Eastern European studies, we would like to maintain links with researchers who do not support the regime,\u00ab she says, pointing out that you can, for example, look at who it is that has not signed declarations of support for the regime or who has, in fact, signed declarations that are critical of the war.<\/p>\n
\u00bbIf we introduce extreme boycotts of all researchers \u2013 also the good ones \u2013 then it is not good for anyone,\u00ab she argues.<\/p>\n
Tine Roesen notes that the UCPH rector in his statements emphasised how important it is to distinguish between individual citizens and the government in the conflict. The programme director hopes therefore to be able to minimise the consequences for researchers who have, say, criticised the war.<\/p>\n
\u00bbWhy should we punish them? If we isolate them, we only put them in a more difficult position \u2013 they need our support and help. And for Putin, it is only an advantage if all researchers are prevented from contacting the outside world.\u00ab<\/p>\n
Tine Roesen hopes that they, while stopping direct collaboration with state-linked institutions, can build new partnerships with organisations that are more independent in Russia. This applies, for example, to the Free University in Moscow, a group of researchers who have left the Higher School of Economics \u2013 which UCPH until now has collaborated with \u2013 because they felt constrained by the state-linked university:<\/p>\n
\u00bbInstead of just sanctioning, we really need to think about what we can do for the forces of good in the country.\u00ab<\/p>\n
Consequences for research<\/h3>\n
The war, the sanctions, and the halt to collaboration, also impacts the research that takes place at UCPH, according to Tine Roesen. Both the anthropological fieldwork in the country, and the collaboration with local researchers in Russia has been hit by the situation. Something that is limiting the contemporary part of research on Russia in particular.<\/p>\n
\u00bbThe concern is that we will return to the situation during the Cold War where we in the West sat around guessing about what was going on there instead of having real tangible knowledge.\u00ab<\/p>\n
The halt to student exchanges with Russian universities means at the same time that the Russia experts of the future do not have the same opportunity to educate themselves. In the autumn semester, students on their fifth semester were to go to St. Petersburg and Moscow, where they would immerse themselves in Russian culture and language. But this stay has been cancelled, and the international department is now trying to find an alternative.<\/p>\n
\u00bbThe idea is to go to a Russian-speaking university, and they also exist in the Baltic States or in Kazakhstan, and some of our students have already opted to do this. However, it restricts the options for the Russia experts of the future if they do not have the opportunity for contact with the area in which they specialise in.\u00ab<\/p>\n
Understanding<\/h3>\n
Tine Roesen has a particular concern that some of the same sanctions that we see in the area of culture will spread to academia.<\/p>\n
\u00bbThe situation is critical and acute, and right now there are severe reactions. But in time, we need to find a nuanced approach. I think that we can all agree internally at universities. But I am a bit concerned about the mood of the general public, where they might want to dissociate themselves from everything Russian \u2013 just like we have seen in the field of culture.\u00ab<\/p>\n
In light of the situation, she understands that the UCPH rector has joined the announcement, even though the precise consequences are not yet clear. But she hopes that more detailed guidelines will be drawn up on the basis of inputs from the departments w\u00edth specific experiences in cooperation with Russia.<\/p>\n
\u00bbIt would make sense to coordinate and bring specific decisions in line about collaboration or not. Ideally a kind of task force at UCPH level should look at our enquiries and justifications, and help lay out a general policy line instead of us all separately trying to find where the limits to cooperation are.\u00ab
\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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Roesen"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Standfirst","subject":"Ukraine","text":"The Eastern European programme is concerned that a University of Copenhagen halt to collaboration with Russian universities will restrict the opportunities for researchers who are critical of the Russian government. Because in this situation they will be vulnerable, according to programme director Tine Roesen.\r\n\r\n","use_post_excerpt":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"Byline","is_author":true,"contributors":false},{"acf_fc_layout":"Content","content":"<p>The programme director for Eastern European Studies at the University of Copenhagen (UCPH)\u00a0has a lot going on at the moment. A few months ago, calls from journalists were few and far between. This is now history.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThere’s really been a lot of interest. I work on Russian literature, and I still get 3-4 enquiries from the press every day,\u00ab says Tine Roesen. Shortly before this conversation with the University Post, the programme director had the Danish weekly Weekendavisen on the phone.<\/p>\n<p>There have been many more enquiries from the media since the outbreak of the war, and when <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/danish-universities-to-cut-ties-with-russia-and-belarus\/\">the UCPH rector followed Danish universities in stopping all bilateral and institutional collaboration with Russia and Belarus<\/a>, it was all channelled to Tine Roesen’s inbox also.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThe rector’s announcement is understandable, expected, and something we can live with in this critical situation,\u00ab says Tine Roesen, but then quickly adds a ‘but’:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbBut this is really something where we need to work on how this is designed in a specific way.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ ALSO:<\/strong> <em><a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/danish-universities-to-cut-ties-with-russia-and-belarus\/\">Danish universities to cut ties to Russia and Belarus<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>She is still in doubt about the details of what a<em> halt to collaboration<\/em> actually means. It is one thing to stop institutional agreements with universities, but should you, for example, also stop working with individual researchers at state universities? Tine Roesen is not quite certain about this.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbI hear it more as a call to action rather than a completely fixed set of rules. We are still starting, and we need to find out what is going on.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>Her plan, so far, is for individual researchers at Eastern European Studies to take a look at which of the Russian researchers that they can vouch for working with.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbAnd we can always report back to management if we are in doubt. I’m sure we’ll find a solution,\u00ab she says.<\/p>\n<h3>Building new bridges<\/h3>\n<p>Tine Roesen prefers that UCPH researchers continue to work with selected researchers \u2013 even though they work at state-affiliated universities.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbWe hope that we will not have to cut off every single researcher from all state-linked institutions. In Eastern European studies, we would like to maintain links with researchers who do not support the regime,\u00ab she says, pointing out that you can, for example, look at who it is that has not signed declarations of support for the regime or who has, in fact, signed declarations that are critical of the war.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIf we introduce extreme boycotts of all researchers \u2013 also the good ones \u2013 then it is not good for anyone,\u00ab she argues.<\/p>\n<p>Tine Roesen notes that the UCPH rector in his statements emphasised how important it is to distinguish between individual citizens and the government in the conflict. The programme director hopes therefore to be able to minimise the consequences for researchers who have, say, criticised the war.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbWhy should we punish them? If we isolate them, we only put them in a more difficult position \u2013 they need our support and help. And for Putin, it is only an advantage if all researchers are prevented from contacting the outside world.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>Tine Roesen hopes that they, while stopping direct collaboration with state-linked institutions, can build new partnerships with organisations that are more independent in Russia. This applies, for example, to the Free University in Moscow, a group of researchers who have left the Higher School of Economics \u2013 which UCPH until now has collaborated with \u2013 because they felt constrained by the state-linked university:<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbInstead of just sanctioning, we really need to think about what we can do for the forces of good in the country.\u00ab<\/p>\n<h3>Consequences for research<\/h3>\n<p>The war, the sanctions, and the halt to collaboration, also impacts the research that takes place at UCPH, according to Tine Roesen. Both the anthropological fieldwork in the country, and the collaboration with local researchers in Russia has been hit by the situation. Something that is limiting the contemporary part of research on Russia in particular.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThe concern is that we will return to the situation during the Cold War where we in the West sat around guessing about what was going on there instead of having real tangible knowledge.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>The halt to student exchanges with Russian universities means at the same time that the Russia experts of the future do not have the same opportunity to educate themselves. In the autumn semester, students on their fifth semester were to go to St. Petersburg and Moscow, where they would immerse themselves in Russian culture and language. But this stay has been cancelled, and the international department is now trying to find an alternative.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThe idea is to go to a Russian-speaking university, and they also exist in the Baltic States or in Kazakhstan, and some of our students have already opted to do this. However, it restricts the options for the Russia experts of the future if they do not have the opportunity for contact with the area in which they specialise in.\u00ab<\/p>\n<h3>Understanding<\/h3>\n<p>Tine Roesen has a particular concern that some of the same sanctions that we see in the area of culture will spread to academia.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbThe situation is critical and acute, and right now there are severe reactions. But in time, we need to find a nuanced approach. I think that we can all agree internally at universities. But I am a bit concerned about the mood of the general public, where they might want to dissociate themselves from everything Russian \u2013 just like we have seen in the field of culture.\u00ab<\/p>\n<p>In light of the situation, she understands that the UCPH rector has joined the announcement, even though the precise consequences are not yet clear. But she hopes that more detailed guidelines will be drawn up on the basis of inputs from the departments w\u00edth specific experiences in cooperation with Russia.<\/p>\n<p>\u00bbIt would make sense to coordinate and bring specific decisions in line about collaboration or not. Ideally a kind of task force at UCPH level should look at our enquiries and justifications, and help lay out a general policy line instead of us all separately trying to find where the limits to cooperation are.\u00ab<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"ArticleEnd"},{"acf_fc_layout":"Newsletter","lang_select":"en","identifier":"Newsletter","headline":"Get an email with our top stories","button_text":"Sign up here","class":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"OtherStories","headline":"","hand_picked_posts":true,"references":[{"reference":{"ID":130998,"post_author":"87","post_date":"2022-03-03 08:13:36","post_date_gmt":"2022-03-03 07:13:36","post_content":"<em>Article updated 4 March with a comment from University of Copenhagen rector Henrik C. Wegener.<\/em>\r\n\r\nThe rectors from all eight Danish universities, including the rector of the University of Copenhagen (UCPH) Henrik C. Wegener, signed a declaration Tuesday to stop all bilateral, institutional collaboration with government-linked institutions in Russia and Belarus. It follows a government request of Danish universities that they put the partnerships on hold.\r\n\r\nThe declaration means, specifically, that students and academics from Danish universities will no longer be to able to study abroad in the countries, and that researchers from Danish universities will not attend conferences or other scientific meetings on Russian and Belarusian soil. The release does not state specifically how the decision will affect Russian and Belarussian students and scientists currently in Denmark.\r\n\r\nRector of Aarhus University, Brian Bech Nielsen, is pleased that the Danish universities are standing together:\r\n\r\n\u00bbThe management team at Aarhus University strongly condemns Russia's acts of war, and Belarus' support of them. For this reason, I am pleased that all eight Danish universities are united in coming to this decision and stopping institutional collaborations on research and education with government-linked stakeholders in Russia and Belarus,\u00ab he says.\r\n\r\nThe University of Copenhagen will discontinue exchange agreements, but currently enrolled students will not be sent home.\r\n\r\nRector of the University of Copenhagen, Henrik C. Wegener, calls Russia's invasion an absolutely unacceptable attack on a peaceful democratic nation.\r\n\r\n\u00bbThe purpose is to send a clear signal that we find the completely outrageous aggression towards Ukraine completely unacceptable. Now we are in the midst of a conflict. It is important to send the strongest possible signal that this behaviour has consequences,\u00ab he says.\r\n\r\nThe decision means that active contracts and agreements on research collaboration will, to the greatest possible extent, be terminated or suspended. But the rector emphasises that the decision does not mean that researchers, for example, need to halt the publication of a scientific article if they have collaborated with a Russian co-author.\r\n<h3>Distinguishes between Russians and the state<\/h3>\r\nIn the joint press release, the universities call the invasion an \u00bbunprovoked attack on Western democracy and the basic values that are the foundation for modern European states,\u00ab while also expressing support for the Ukrainian people, including researchers and students.\r\n\r\nThe universities stress that they will \u00bbprotect individuals who are affected by the current war\u00ab, and that they will therefore reach out to Ukrainian, Russian and Belarusian students and employees.\r\n\r\n\u00bbAt Danish universities, we distinguish between the Russian state and Russian citizens,\u00ab they write.\r\n\r\nAt the same time, the Danish universities will seek support among other European universities to collaborate on initiatives that can help Ukrainian university staff and students.\n<!-- end of module 1 -->\n","post_title":"Danish universities to cut ties with Russia and Belarus","post_excerpt":"Following a Danish government request, all Danish universities have stopped their collaboration with state-linked institutions in Russia and Belarus. This will mean that researchers and students at Danish universities will no longer be able to go on exchange or study abroad there.","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"danish-universities-to-cut-ties-with-russia-and-belarus","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-03-04 10:34:54","post_modified_gmt":"2022-03-04 09:34:54","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/danske-universiteter-indstiller-samarbejde-med-rusland-og-belarus\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}},{"reference":{"ID":131926,"post_author":"87","post_date":"2022-03-21 07:12:40","post_date_gmt":"2022-03-21 06:12:40","post_content":"\u00bbWe have ended up in a terrible situation because of the 'conflict',\u2019\u00ab says Alexander Prischchepov.\r\n\r\nHis use of this phrase is deliberately vague. Even though Alexander Prischchepov is in Denmark, he fears a new Russian law which can give media up to 15 years in prison for the use of the word 'war'. So Alexander Prischchepov has decided to stick to the word 'conflict' when talking about the invasion.\r\n\r\nAnd the limitations on his vocabulary are not the only things affecting him after Russia\u2019s actions.\r\n\r\nFollowing a Danish government recommendation, the rectors from all eight Danish universities including the rector of the University of Copenhagen (UCPH) Henrik C. Wegener, have signed a declaration <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/danish-universities-to-cut-ties-with-russia-and-belarus\/\">stopping all bilateral, institutional collaboration with government-linked institutions in Russia and Belarus<\/a>.\r\n\r\n<strong>READ ALSO:<\/strong> <em><a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/danish-universities-to-cut-ties-with-russia-and-belarus\/\">Danish universities to cut ties with Russian and Belarus<\/a><\/em>\r\n<div class=\"factbox\">\r\n<p class=\"factbox-header feature-color\">ALEXANDER PRISHCHEPOV<\/p>\r\nAssociate Professor at the Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management since 2014\r\n\r\nBorn and raised in Saint Petersburg and is still a Russian citizen.\r\n\r\nMoved to the US in 2005, and has since then lived in Germany and Denmark.\r\n\r\nUses satellite images to conduct research into the impact of humans on large areas of land\r\n\r\nSpecialises in Eastern European and Central Asian land areas, so he often cooperates with Russian researchers.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nIn practice this means that researchers like Alexander Prischchepov can no longer visit Russian universities, and that he has been asked not to attend conferences or other scientific meetings in the two countries. The Rector of UCPH has emphasised that the initiative does not mean that scientists need to stop articles being published if they have been authored in collaboration with, say, a Russian scientist.\r\n\r\n\u00bbI understand it to mean that we need to minimise our collaboration with researchers from Russian universities. So I've told my Russian colleagues that we're probably not going to start any of the new projects we otherwise had planned. I expect, on the other hand, to be able to complete the articles that we have in the pipeline right now \u2013 and I hope to be able to continue to work with them as individual researchers rather than with their university as such,\u00ab says Alexander Prischchepov. He has sought to clarify his position with questions to management, but has not yet received a reply that will let him assess the full scope of the consequences for his own research.\r\n<h3>Cancelled research trip<\/h3>\r\nBut there will be consequences. He has already cancelled a trip to Russia, and he expects that the same will apply to a trip to Mongolia which he was on in the summer. On both trips, he was to work with Russian scientists \u2013 financed by Russian funding \u2013 to investigate the effect of climate change on how land areas are changing in the borderlands between Mongolia and Russia.\r\n\r\nIt is this kind of international collaboration \u2013 about key research themes for the whole world \u2013 that is being hit right now, he says.\r\n\r\n\u00bbI understand the decision by the rector \u2013 because it is a difficult situation, and several Russian university managements have expressed support for the conflict. We need to stop the conflict in Ukraine \u2013 and focus in particular on how the conflict affects Ukrainians. But you need, at the same time, to be aware that this can have major consequences for research also.\u00ab\r\n\r\nAnd the consequences for research, according to Alexander Prischchepov, can end up having global consequences.\r\n\r\n\u00bbYou could say that we can stop scientific collaboration with Russia, but the climate knows no borders. When the permafrost in Siberia melts and methane is released, the planet becomes warmer and it affects us all.\u00ab\r\n<h3>Will hit research<\/h3>\r\nA freeze of research collaboration with Russia will inevitably affect crucial areas of research in the long term, he believes.\r\n\r\n\u00bbAs a researcher, you need to collaborate with experts from other countries so that you can access the best knowledge of the field. And it has the very real consequence that we to a greater extent are prevented from doing research in something crucial, while the Russians lose access to important international expertise. I have, for example, a lot of expertise on major environmental effects within Russia, which is becoming less accessible to Russians.\u00ab\r\n\r\nAlexander Prischchepov is pleased that the UCPH rector has emphasised that it is about the Russian and Belarusian regimes \u2013 not about Russians and Belarussians.\r\n\r\nThey are also suffering from the crisis. And the possible consequences for his Russian colleagues is something that concerns him a lot right now, says the associate professor.\r\n\r\n\u00bbOver the last couple of days, I have seen many of those who have the opportunity to do so, flee from Russia \u2013 and I understand them. In Russia, they are squeezed between the Kremlin on one side, which limits their freedom of research, and by Western sanctions on the other.\u00ab\r\n\r\n\u00bbIn this way, I myself am in a privileged situation,\u00ab he concludes.\n<!-- end of module 1 -->\n","post_title":"Halt to university collaboration with Russia is restricting Alexander Prischchepov's research","post_excerpt":"After a decision to stop all Danish universities' collaboration with their Russian counterparts an associate professor considers cutting ties to his many Russian colleagues. He is concerned that the decision will have negative consequences for important research.","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"halt-to-university-collaboration-with-russia-is-restricting-alexander-prischchepovs-research","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-03-21 12:12:58","post_modified_gmt":"2022-03-21 11:12:58","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/stoppet-samarbejde-med-rusland-begraenser-alexander-prishchepovs-forskning\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}},{"reference":{"ID":132035,"post_author":"5","post_date":"2022-03-22 07:16:36","post_date_gmt":"2022-03-22 06:16:36","post_content":"Have you also played with earthworms when you were a child? Have you tested the myth that a worm can live on as two separate individuals if you split it into two?\r\n\r\nThe earthworm is for many of us the first laboratory animal of our childhood, and it introduces us to the quirks and mysteries of nature. It is therefore also one of the first animals that can teach us what it means to be aware of other creatures' vulnerabilities, and what is required of us to co-exist with them.\r\n\r\nAs with so many other things, the magic of the earthworm disappears with age. Nature is demystified, and we get used to seeing the wonders of this world. But if you, as an adult, miss the revelations of your childhood\u2019s worm, don't despair. On the medical degree programme at the University of Copenhagen, you are allowed to pin down earthworms and put current through them to examine their nerve impulses. This exercise is part of compulsory teaching on the degree programme.\r\n<h3>Earthworms raise meaningful questions<\/h3>\r\nThe exercise was recently criticised by the medical student Clara Turner in an interview in the University Post in January 2022 based on her post in a Facebook group for medical students. Turner calls for a change to the way students use laboratory animals in the teaching \u2013 even when the test animal is 'just' a worm.\r\n\r\n<strong>READ ALSO:<\/strong> <em><a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/students-against-animal-experiments-i-dont-want-to-have-to-roast-earthworms-in-class\/\">Students against animal experiments: \u00bbI don\u2019t want to have to roast earthworms in class\u00ab<\/a><\/em>\r\n\r\nThis, apparently controversial, opinion set off a debate: \u00bbParticularly disturbing is a post on Facebook, where a medical student tries to stop experiments on the primitive mollusc,\u00ab the literature editor of Danish newspaper Berlingske S\u00f8ren Jacobsen Damm wrote under the heading: \u2018Now the young \u00bbGeneration Delicate\u00ab is crying for a suffering earthworm: This could be dangerous\u2019 as a response to Turner's opposition against this form of teaching.\r\n\r\nIf you ask the editor Damm, Turner's views express the views of a generation that cannot handle the inherent rawness of life, but would rather spend time on \u00bbgut feelings\u00ab and \u00bbsocial constructivist daydreams\u00ab. Because how will you be able to keep your cool during heart surgery if you can\u2019t \u00bbtolerate experiments on a primitive organism like an earthworm\u00ab?\r\n<div class=\"factbox\">\r\n<p class=\"factbox-header feature-color\">OPINION ON THE UNIVERSITY POST<\/p>\r\nThis is a featured comment\/opinion piece. It expresses the author\u2019s own opinion.\r\n\r\nWe encourage everyone to read the whole comment before commenting on social media, so that we only get constructive contributions.\r\n\r\nDisagreement is good, but remember to uphold a civil and respectful tone.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\nAfter this case was put in front of her, Helena Pedersen, who does research on animal-human relations in teaching contexts at the University of Gothenburg, says:\r\n\r\n\u00bbAccusing conscientious protesting students of being delicate is a common and demeaning strategy. But it is deeply problematic. It is both thought-provoking, and regrettable, that the university's responsibility for critical thinking, critical analysis, and ethical awareness is not just 'forgotten', but even rebuked when it comes to animal experiments.\u00ab\r\n\r\nFrom our perspective, Clara Turner has raised a necessary and important discussion. No matter how low or insignificant the editor Damm considers earthworms, the above-mentioned experiments raise meaningful ethical questions. It should not only lead to reflection when monkeys or puppies are at stake. Because how closely related to human beings should animals be, actually, before we consider animal experiments worth dealing with from an ethical point of view? And what ground-breaking and necessary knowledge should animal experiments contribute to, before we no longer consider the application of pain as just cruelty to animals pure and simple?\r\n\r\nWe humans do not have access to the earthworm\u2019s own experiences. Regardless of our efforts to put ourselves in the place of the worm, we can, at best, only speculate on what it is like to be a worm from a worm\u2019s perspective. Speculations that necessarily derive from our own human consciousness. Even though we have both physical and existential features in common with earthworms, and it is therefore not completely impossible for us to identify ourselves with them, they must remain \u00bbstrangers under the same moon\u00ab to us, as the Danish poet S\u00f8ren Ulrik Thomsen writes.\r\n\r\nFor the same reason, it can be difficult to assess whether living laboratory animals are suffering from pain in the classroom. We can, nevertheless, take our point of departure from the efforts we make to contain or inhibit the animals we investigate in the laboratory. The measures we are forced to use, such as fixation with needles, or containment in petri dishes, help to underline the animals\u2019 lack of will to cooperate.\r\n\r\nNo animals voluntarily sign up for our experiments. They don't take one for the team, or 'sacrifice' their lives for our sake. No matter how noble our goals are for our research and teaching, it is abuse of the animals that we use. Ethically speaking, it can be defended if it is necessary to achieve important results. But this requires humility in relation to our knowledge of the animals, and our use of them. And this means that we should always be willing to have an in-depth discussion about our perception of what is 'necessary'.\r\n<h3>What is 'necessary'?<\/h3>\r\nIn the article in the University Post the instructors who are responsible for the earthworm exercise say that the experiment is important to impart the necessary knowledge to the students. They will therefore keep doing the experiment as part of the teaching. The same article says, nevertheless, that you can become a medical doctor from Aarhus University and the University of Southern Denmark without having to do the same experiments.\r\n\r\nThat there are different teaching methods at different universities is, of course, not a problem. But when these methods involve the inclusion of living animals and experiments like the one Clara Turner and her fellow students have to carry out, it should lead to some reflection when other study programmes, that educate students for the same jobs, do not consider there to be a need to use animals in this way. We do not need to determine who is ultimately in the right. But we need to note that it might be worthwhile to consider whether you could do without the experiment and still educate talented doctors, when this is possible at other universities.\r\n<h3>Don\u2019t confuse consideration with weakness<\/h3>\r\nIn Danish animal laboratory legislation, vertebrates and squids are, to some extent, protected from our curiosity. But earthworms are not. So why even worry about them? Is the concern for worms not a reflection of the weakness that S\u00f8ren Jacobsen-Damm is trying to fight? To this we say the following:\r\n\r\nFirst of all, research into animal welfare and behavioural biology makes us increasingly wiser about the outside world. Researchers used to dissect living dogs without the use of anaesthesia because they believed that dogs could not feel pain. Until recently, many people perceived fish to be a kind of swimming vegetable rather than a sentient creature. And within the insect field there is a growing awareness that you at least cannot deny the possibility that some insect species may experience their own existence. It seems to be fitting to have a certain humility concerning our own ignorance. Unless it is necessary due to some higher purpose, it seems pointless to routinely cause possible suffering to worms.\r\n\r\nSecondly, we are ethically accustomed to asking: What should I do? What\u2019s the right thing to do? But maybe we should change the question a bit and ask instead: Who should I become? What kind of person should I strive to be? Before we just say \u2018yes!\u2019 and put on our protective rubber gloves, we should ask ourselves who we will become if we just act on the basis of a convention, with a lack of ingenuity, and with indifference and simplistic ideas about what makes a person strong or weak. Do we want to be people who, for no reason, transmit electricity through other living, perhaps sentient, beings?\r\n\r\nWould we not, in reality, be stronger when we dare to stop this superfluous suffering or destruction of the living, and question it? Are we not weaker when we rigidly hang on to the methods and traditions of the past? These questions have arisen in continuation of Clara Turner's critique of an earthworm experiment on the medicine study programme. The questions, however, go much deeper at a time when a reconsideration of man's current ways of perceiving, treating, and interacting with other animals is crucial if we want to live on a planet in ecological balance. This, in our opinion, is an uncontroversial point of view.\n<!-- end of module 1 -->\n","post_title":"In defence of the student who defended a worm","post_excerpt":"Before we just say \u2018yes!\u2019 and put on our protective rubber gloves, we should ask ourselves who we want to be. Do we want to be people who for no reason transmit electricity through other living, perhaps sentient, beings?","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"in-defence-of-the-student-who-defended-a-worm","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2022-03-22 09:40:17","post_modified_gmt":"2022-03-22 08:40:17","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/forsvar-for-den-studerende-der-forsvarede-en-regnorm\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}},{"reference":{"ID":93346,"post_author":"7","post_date":"2019-09-23 06:30:37","post_date_gmt":"2019-09-23 04:30:37","post_content":"There has been a new burst of media panic about identity politics at the University of Copenhagen. The latest instalment hit Mette Sandby, head of the IKK Department, when she sent an email to department employees with a suggestion that they should be careful with gendered forms of address.\r\n<blockquote>Some groups that previously flew under the radar have now become visible and teachers need to be aware of that.<\/blockquote>\r\n<em><strong>READ ALSO:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/inclusive-speech-teaching-staff-at-humanities-now-being-urged-to-use-gender-neutral-terms\/\">Teaching staff at Humanities now being urges to use gender neutral terms<\/a><\/em>\r\n\r\nI do not think Mette Sandbye deserved to be the target of this shitstorm (and I\u2019ll get back to why) but in the best interests of the University I think management must find a strategy for avoiding further calamities.\r\n\r\nTo that end it is useful to distinguish sharply between three aspects of the issue, which need to be addressed in different ways:\r\n\r\n \r\n<ol>\r\n \t<li>Respectful interaction<\/li>\r\n \t<li>The cultural civil war<\/li>\r\n \t<li>University staff policies, including codes of conduct<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\n<!-- end of module 1 -->\n<h3>Respectful interaction<\/h3>\r\nIdentity politics makes one point that is relevant for the university: raising consciousness about unwanted stereotypes.\r\n\r\n<em><strong>READ ALSO:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/lecturer-we-need-to-learn-to-say-they-in-the-singular-this-is-not-that-hard\/\">Lecturer: We need to learn to say 'they' in the singular, and it's not that hard<\/a><\/em>\r\n\r\nSome groups that previously flew under the radar have now become visible and teachers need to be aware of that. But the main point of the message is something that has always been a ground rule for good manners, i.e. not to behave in a way that makes other people unhappy or uncomfortable by putting them in unwanted stereotypical boxes. The principle is the same that makes it unacceptable to attract attention to other people\u2019s disabilities.\r\n\r\nThis principle of course also applies to university life.\r\n<h3>The cultural civil war<\/h3>\r\nEverywhere in the western world there have been recent confrontations between two positions that actively fight one another: A left-wing group that wants traditional categories \u2013 such as the binary contrast between \u2018male\u2019 and \u2018female\u2019 \u2013 replaced with a spectrum of new categories, and a right-wing group that just as energetically fights to preserve traditional categories.\r\n\r\nThe university as such should not get mixed up in this society-level confrontation: Staff and students alike must be allowed to take any stand they prefer on this issue.\r\n<h3>University codes of conduct<\/h3>\r\nThis issue is the one that poses a direct threat to the university\u2019s ability to do its job properly.\r\n\r\nCases from Britain and America have shown that general rules for what teaching staff may or may not do can have the consequence that controversial issues \u2013 arguably those areas where academic research and discussion have the greatest potential importance \u2013 are out of bounds because teachers are afraid of being accused of offending student sensibilities. The original - now abandoned \u2013 version of the University of Copenhagen\u2019s guidelines gave rise to an episode which generated fear that the same thing was going to happen here.\r\n\r\nThe new version that is currently under discussion offers hope that this problem is on its way to being solved, because there is now a clear distinction between course content (where anything goes) and issues arising as part of conversations between staff and students. However, we still have to see whether management can refrain from dangerous forms of interference if new episodes of allegedly offensive conduct arise.\n<!-- end of module 2 -->\n[secrettext face=\"\u2019Os og dem\u2019\" text=\"Us and them.\"], the new book by Hendricks og Marker, rightly warns against a polarized discussion about identity politics, and instead recommends nuanced attention to what is at stake in individual cases.\r\n\r\nFrom this it follows that it is a mistake to issue general warnings against gendered categories (including male vs female). Instead, the crucial point is to heighten attention towards individual students who (for reasons that may previously have been overlooked) are at risk of feeling marginalized in teaching situations. Teachers should be encouraged to reach out and take the necessary steps to ensure that this is avoided.\r\n\r\nAs pointed out in an interview in Weekendavisen (Sept 13), some of those who fall outside gender stereotypes would very much like to avoid being positioned as the trigger of a general policy of using categories associated with identity politics such as non-binary and cisgender.\r\n\r\nFor that reason (among others) it would be wrong to introduce guidelines imported from identity politics into university codes of conduct. The only relevant guideline is that university staff should behave in a considerate and sensitive manner towards everybody (point 1 above).\r\n\r\nTo these purely principled considerations one may add a strategic argument. Mette Sandbye\u2019s email was about how to receive new students in a considerate manner, and hence it is fully compatible with the principles laid down above. But certain passages were open to misinterpretation \u2013 such as the recommendation to avoid gendered categories. For that reason it detonated some landmines in the cultural civil war, with the consequences that we have seen.\r\n\r\nThere are reasons to believe that Hilary Clinton\u2019s profile in the area of identity politics was a contributory factor in making it possible for Trump to win the US election.\r\n\r\nIn Denmark there are reasons to believe that it would be a terrible mistake for the University of Copenhagen \u2013 not least for the humanities (cp Jesper Vind\u2019s article in Weekendavisen, Sept 13) \u2013 \u00a0if the institution comes to be seen as a bastion for aggressive left-wing identity politics.\r\n\r\nIf it is both wrong and stupid to allow ourselves to be put in that position, should we not try very hard indeed to avoid it?\r\n\r\n \n<!-- end of module 3 -->\n","post_title":"Identity politics must be kept out of university codes of conduct","post_excerpt":"University employees must behave respectfully towards each other and towards students, but the University should stay out of the cultural civil war that is currently raging","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"identity-politics-must-be-kept-out-of-university-codes-of-conduct","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2019-09-22 22:32:33","post_modified_gmt":"2019-09-22 20:32:33","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/?p=93346\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"post","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}}],"category":false,"theme":false,"number_of_posts":"4","style":"default"}]},"taxonomyData":{"category":[{"term_id":45,"name":"International","slug":"international","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":45,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":315,"filter":"raw"}],"post_tag":[{"term_id":5293,"name":"Russia","slug":"russia","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5293,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":7,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":5272,"name":"ukraine","slug":"ukraine-en","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5272,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":11,"filter":"raw"}],"post_format":[],"expression":[{"term_id":15,"name":"News Article","slug":"news_article","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":15,"taxonomy":"expression","description":"","parent":0,"count":11489,"filter":"raw"}],"translation_priority":[]},"featured_media_url":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/tineroesen202111-1280x960.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/87"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132156"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132156\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":132269,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132156\/revisions\/132269"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}