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This week Lacuna is focusing on protest and the university.

Shirin Rai reports on “an undemocratic attack on one of the foremost universities of India” – Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) – by a government using a discourse of “sedition, nationalism and intolerance” to justify its actions. In ‘Barbarians at the Gate’, she also bears witness to the peaceful protests of staff and students, who came together to oppose this oppression.

In the United Kingdom, Alex Ferguson joined a protest in London against the scrapping of maintenance grants for the poorest students. Reflecting on the protest, he explains how he found himself ‘In the Kettle’, watching as a form of pre-scripted violence plays out to the assembled press corps.

Emma Mason finds a different way of protesting, also in the context of battles against the costs of UK higher education. She explains why she read Ginsberg’s poem ‘Howl’ to the largest rally ever seen on the Warwick University Campus.

In ‘Teaching about Creative Expressions of Resistance in contemporary Cairo’, Sam Holder details his response to the recent revolutions, protests and violence in Egypt.

Looking outward, we welcome Emily Scurrah, from the campaigning organisation 38 Degrees, to both Lacuna and Warwick. In ‘There is Power in a Union,’ Emily shares her optimism about what protestors can achieve when they work together, creatively, to tackle inequality and protect vital services.

Our choice of theme is very much linked to a series of events that will take place at the University of Warwick from 14-17 March. ‘Protest and Performance Week’ has been organised by staff and students at the university and is open to all. It includes panel discussions, comedy, film and theatre, and will feature a number of Lacuna authors. We hope that these two interventions will combine to prompt some interesting discussions about protest and free speech in the university context, and beyond.