Professors demand University of Iceland uphold lecture agreement

Two emeritus professors from the University of Iceland have formally requested the university's rector to honor a rental agreement for a lecture. Hannes Hólmsteinn Gissurarson and Ragnar Árnason argue that the university improperly canceled a planned lecture by Dr. Carl Baudenbacher, a former president of the EFTA Court and a leading expert on the EEA agreement and European law.

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We believe it is likely unintentional but in practice an attack on academic freedom and the role and goals of the University of Iceland, if this world-renowned scholar is denied the opportunity to deliver an academic lecture at the University of Iceland on the platform in question, because some may be dissatisfied with his academic approach or with the parties who wish to draw attention to his academic lecture.

The lecture, initially scheduled to be held in the University's Great Hall, was reportedly moved because it was considered too political. The professors contend this reasoning is flawed. They point out that the lecture was organized by the Research Center for Politics and Economics at the University of Iceland, not by the external organizations, Áfram Ísland and Almenna bókafélagið, which advertised the event. They assert that Ragnar Árnason provided accurate information when booking the hall, and it was not clear at the time which internal university institution would be the primary organizer.

In their letter to Rector Silja Bára Ómarsdóttir, the professors stated that it has been common practice for external organizations to collaborate with university institutions on events, and such collaborations have never been opposed before. They believe that denying a world-renowned scholar the opportunity to deliver an academic lecture at the university, based on potential dissatisfaction with his academic approach or the entities drawing attention to it, constitutes an attack on academic freedom and the core mission of the University of Iceland.

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It has often been customary for organizations and parties outside the University to cooperate with institutions within the University on meetings and to take on the task of drawing attention to them. As far as we know, we have never been objected to.

The professors emphasized that the main point is that Dr. Baudenbacher, a distinguished expert on European affairs whom the university has previously recognized by inviting him as a guest professor, should be allowed to present his academic findings. They view the cancellation as a misjudgment that undermines the university's commitment to open academic discourse.

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Ragnar provided no false information when he booked the hall, nor was it clear at the time which institution within the University would be responsible for the lecture, and this is an academic lecture by one of the world's leading experts on European affairs, as the University has actually acknowledged by having him as a guest professor to teach about European affairs.