Free Speech on Campus

/ December 31, 2017

JANUARY 14 PROPOSAL DEADLINE: In the past year, free speech on campuses has become a focus of contentious debate and increased media scrutiny. Campus communities—including administrators, faculty, and students—generally embrace the concept of free speech yet lack a clear consensus about its limits. The AAUP invites proposals for presentations at its annual conference on the state of higher education that offer nuanced articulations of the concept of free speech in the context of higher education.

For example, presentations might explore

  • competing claims about who has free speech rights and how far they extend;
  • free speech and its relation to academic freedom;
  • the politicization of free speech before, during, and after the 2016 presidential election;
  • free speech and the problem of hate speech, racism, or white supremacy;
  • rights and obligations regarding controversial outside speakers;
  • campuses and their communities as sites of protest and counterprotest;
  • social media controversies and their consequences;
  • media coverage of free speech on campuses;
  • free speech and faculty on contingent appointments;
  • free speech and the right to organize in unions;
  • the history and legacy of the 1960s free speech movement; or
  • the future of free speech on campuses.

Presentations on other topics of interest to a diverse, multidisciplinary higher education audience are welcome. We encourage proposals that raise questions, engage conference participants in discussion, and foster dialogue.

You may propose either a complete session, with two to four participants, or an individual presentation, with one presenter. Individual presentations, if accepted, will be grouped into sessions with other individual presentations. Complete sessions may consist of a set of traditional presentations (a panel presentation), followed by Q&A, or may be structured as a roundtable discussion to encourage more audience participation. A session with two presenters will generally have a one-hour time slot, and a session with three or more presenters will generally have a one-and-a-half hour time slot.

Proposals will be accepted through January 14, 2018 using the form below.

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