6-7 DECEMBER | The Liberal Herald's 6th Academic Conference

The State of, and, or Education

EVENT

The past year has been a critical one for Central Europe. The grip of authoritarian populism has tightened around educational institutions, judiciaries, and the media in Hungary and Poland, the popularity of extreme right-wing politics has been on the rise in Slovakia, and civil societies have been staging mass protests against corruption and links to organized crime at the top ranks of political leadership.
In a “post-factual” era, when people easily fall prey to populist promises and conspiracy sites and publications, the role of education is fundamental. The state of primary through tertiary education in Central Europe lags behind political and social developments, which are moving at lightning speed. Open discussion of the totalitarian pasts of the twentieth century is lacking in curricula, which still largely rely on rote learning of historical facts that feel disconnected from young people’s realities. As a result, schools fail to provide a moral and ethical foundation for responsible citizenship.
The sixth annual Liberal Herald conference examines the role of education in social, political, philosophical, cultural contexts in locations near and far.