Beneath the Mask: Azadeh Ganjeh on Iran, Universities as Spaces for Activism, and the Power of Art

Show notes

Azadeh Ganjeh advocated for more academic freedom and the rights of her students as a professor in Tehran - despite growing political pressure. Her support for student activism and her critical stance against oppression came at a high price: the loss of her income, ongoing threats, and severe restrictions on her academic work.. In 2022, she left her home country and came to Germany to continue her research and advocacy. Today, she works at the University of Hildesheim and HKS Ottersberg and remains passionately committed to academic freedom and diversity of opinion.

In this interview, conducted by Mareike Ilsemann, Azadeh Ganjeh talks about the power of performance art, universities as a space of discourse and activism and her life in exile.

The project is being carried out by the science communication agency con gressa in cooperation with the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research as part of the “Science Year 2024 – Freedom”.

Additional resources and information on academic freedom: Scholars at Risk, Free to Think 2023 – Report of the Scholars at Risk Academic Freedom Monitoring Project : https://www.scholarsatrisk.org/resources/free-to-think-2023/ Friedrich-Alexander-Universität, Academic Freedom Index: https://academic-freedom-index.net/