The International Conference „Beyond Fear and Silence: Universities against Violence“
We present the Agenda of the International Conference „Beyond Fear and Silence: Universities against Violence“ which will be held on May 6-7, 2022, at the Rectorate of the University of Sarajevo. This is the inaugural conference of the University and Gender Mainstreaming Project (UNIGEM) and will bring together Bosnian-Herzegovinian, regional and international scholars researching gender-related issues in the field of higher education.
During the two conference days, 33 papers by authors from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Serbia, and as well as, Austria and the United Kingdom will be presented. The topics to be discussed are the following: violence as a feminist problem - producing knowledge on sexual and gender-based violence; gender-sensitive language and its use and gender inequality in language; instrumentalization of female body; gender stereotypes in higher education institutions, religion, representation and scope of curriculum content on gender based violence; contemporary theoretical and methodological challenges in gender research and equality in higher education, as well as importance of gendering of academic programs. In addition, there will be presentations elaborating on faculty/staff sexual misconduct in higher education; online harassment and cyber violence in higher education, media reporting on gender-based violence, mental health and gender based violence, and mechanisms for the prevention and protection against sexual harassment committed using information and communication technologies during the Covid-19 pandemic. Sexual harassment in the academic environment will be the main topic of the one of the panels. There will be discussions on sexual harassment, gender discrimination and institutional policies, as well as women’s inequality in employment and career development, representation of women in artificial intelligence research, and the relationship between gender, university management and institutional culture. The conference will end with a lecture on the relationship between epistemic and gender-based violence at university, its intersections and contradictions.
The aim of the conference is to develop and encourage scholarship committed to the politics of gender equality that aims to end gender-based violence in academia, focusing on the Balkans region and comparative examples internationally. The TPO Foundation and the University of Sarajevo (UNSA) are the organizers of the conference.
The University and Gender Mainstreaming (UNIGEM) Project is supported by the UK Government.
