Contemporary Civilization has for over a century created a space for wide-ranging, ethically informed, and self-aware discussions of challenging present-day issues. Ordinarily, and, perhaps, a bit oddly, this discussion has for many decades been organized around the close reading of canonical texts. Among the issues that we have engaged in recent years is the rationale for free expression in an age in which digital media has come to supplement, and in some instances supplant, printed books and periodicals. Our mini course will consider why free expression emerged as a core value in the Anglo-American world; how it came to be reimagined in the age of mass democracy; and what its likely future is today.

Session 1 | Tuesday, October 1: Why Free Expression?

Session 2 | Tuesday, October 8: Free Expression and Democracy

Session 3 | Tuesday, October 15: Free Expression in the Marketplace, at Work, and in the Classroom

Refreshments will be served.

Class Fee, which includes entry to all three sessions: $160 for alumni and guest, $100 for Young Alumni in class years 2015-2024, and guest.

Image credit: Richard Caton Woodville, “War News from Mexico,” 1848