Taking its starting point from culturally embedded examples of "rebelliousness" in Italian and British educational contexts, the talk will examine assumptions about the complex relationship between the "games" of knowledge validation and the "playfulness" of rule-breaking. What is the role of science, education and more generally of knowledge production, in determining the legitimacy of protest, rebellion and rule-breaking? By converse, how central are defiance, rebelliousness and play in advancing and sharing knowledge? We will explore different cultural and historical perspectives on hierarchy, anarchy, anomie and autonomy with regards to academic and educational contexts, and actively involve participants in playing with how those might inform how we think about our Universities.