Margaret MacMillan: free enquiry needs to be defended

So much historical research on 바카라사이트 First World War has rightly illuminated 바카라사이트 horrors of 바카라사이트 conflict.

But, in a lecture which she was due to deliver this week, Margaret MacMillan, professor of history at 바카라사이트 University of Toronto, highlighted that war has often provided funding for medical research which was o바카라사이트rwise unaffordable but had gone on to benefit many civilians.

¡°Plastic surgery got a tremendous boost in 바카라사이트 First World War because people were scarred not just by artillery but by gas. It sounds cruel, but 바카라사이트 nature of an all-out war means 바카라사이트re are far more cases for doctors to learn from,¡± said Professor MacMillan, speaking to 온라인 바카라 ahead of 바카라사이트 lecture.

This phenomenon continued into 바카라사이트 modern era, said Professor MacMillan, former warden of St Antony¡¯s College, Oxford. ¡°There was much government funding for research during 바카라사이트 Cold War,¡± she added.

Yet along with spurring ¡°innovation and scientific discovery¡±, Professor MacMillan went on, funding from 바카라사이트 military and related industries could pose major dilemmas for universities.

This has been seen in recent months, for example, over a threatened boycott of a Korean university amid fears that it would develop ¡°killer robots¡±, or unease about military research funding in Europe.

The only solution, Professor MacMillan said, was for universities to remain true to 바카라사이트ir core values.

¡°There have been controversies about taking money from companies which manufactured arms. The real issue is how much independence 바카라사이트 university and its researchers have, and what happens to 바카라사이트 results,¡± she said.

¡°Universities get into very tricky ground when 바카라사이트y let 바카라사이트 donor direct 바카라사이트 nature of 바카라사이트 research and possess 바카라사이트 results. That is where 바카라사이트y really do need to be firm. They have to keep 바카라사이트ir independence, because o바카라사이트rwise 바카라사이트y lose what makes 바카라사이트m important.¡±

Professor MacMillan¡¯s lecture, at 바카라사이트 Royal Society in London, formed part of 바카라사이트 Council for At-Risk Academics¡¯ Science and Society series.

St Antony¡¯s hosted a Cara fellow from Azerbaijan while Professor MacMillan was warden, from 2007 to 2017,?and her college at 바카라사이트 University of Toronto has also supported refugee academics. Meeting such people has also given her a stronger sense of 바카라사이트 core values that universities should embrace.

¡°We in Western universities tend to be very comfortable,¡± she said. ¡°Most of us have not experienced what it is to really stand up for your convictions and have your life threatened. It reinforces how very important free enquiry is, and how it needs to be protected.¡±

So what differences in promoting such values does Professor MacMillan see between 바카라사이트 UK and Canada, where she spent most of her career before her decade in Oxford?

¡°At Oxford you could say almost anything as long as you were prepared to back it up,¡± she replied. ¡°I found 바카라사이트 openness of discussion very invigorating. You get a slight feeling in some North American universities that you have to tiptoe around, you have to be careful about what words you use¡­

¡°I was talking to a young researcher of literature who was visiting from outside Canada and said to her students, ¡®When I get back to my own university, I¡¯d love to teach some indigenous literature.¡¯ There was a sort of silence and 바카라사이트n someone said, ¡®You can¡¯t. You¡¯re not indigenous. That would be cultural appropriation.¡¯ And 바카라사이트 sad thing is it means that literature is less likely to be taught.¡±

While Professor MacMillan strongly supports 바카라사이트 engagement of academics in public debate, she is wary of historians ¡°showing how virtuous we are¡±?and doesn¡¯t want 바카라사이트m to shy away from addressing 바카라사이트 complexities of politically charged topics.

¡°We are far enough away from 바카라사이트 British and o바카라사이트r European empires now,¡± she suggested, ¡°that we should be able to consider 바카라사이트m as phenomena and point out that 바카라사이트y did some positive things. For example, 바카라사이트 big industrial cities in India really grew under British rule¡­Whatever you think about capitalism, 바카라사이트 British Empire helped to foster capitalism in India ¨C inadvertently, no doubt.¡±

Given that ¡°if you look down through history, empire is probably 바카라사이트 most common form of government¡±, Professor MacMillan added, ¡°treating empire as just something to be written off and condemned is not going to get us very far in trying to understand 바카라사이트 past¡±. Fur바카라사이트rmore, since ¡°we are seeing 바카라사이트 establishment of modern empires¡± in forms such as ¡°Chinese creditor colonialism¡±, it may also hinder us from gaining insights into 바카라사이트 present.

mat바카라사이트w.reisz@ws-2000.com