SCRIPTS scholar Sergei Akopov delivered a powerful keynote address on academic freedom and the politics of loneliness. Reflecting on the lived experiences of threatened scholars, Akopov asked the audience a poignant question: “When was the last time in your life you were afraid to say your name? Or thought, ‘Should I identify myself in this interview? Should I appear in this picture? What would be the consequences of that?’”

He explained how fear of self-identification fosters isolation, which in turn serves as a potent tool for suppressing political dissent. “Loneliness and alienation are, in fact, very useful for many politicians who exploit them for populist and nationalist agendas,” Akopov concluded.

The keynote was preceded by a thought-provoking theatrical performance titled “Taking Sides”, which depicts the struggles of a student facing the restrictions often imposed on at-risk scholars, the lack of solidarity within the academic community, and the far-reaching consequences of these circumstances. Akopov is among the SCRIPTS scholars collaborating with the Hidden Research project.

Hidden Research uses theatre to narrate the stories of individual scholars who have faced limitations, restrictions, or persecution due to their academic work. These performances draw on interviews with at-risk scholars and incorporate insights from experts in the humanities, social and political sciences, and theatre studies.

The project is coordinated by the Berlin Center for Global Engagement (BCGE) in close scientific collaboration with the BUA project Co2libri. It is supported by the SCRIPTS Cluster of Excellence, the Center for Comparative Research on Democracy (CCRD) at Humboldt University, the BUA Objective 2: Fostering Knowledge Exchange, and the BUA Forum on Diplomatic Resilience. The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as part of the Science Year 2024 – Freedom initiative.

For more information about the Hidden Research project, please visit its website.