Tuesday, July 17 at 2:00 pm
Trigger Warning: Safe Spaces Are Dangerous
Long hailed as bastions of intellectual development and ground zero for the free and spirited exchange of ideas, today’s universities have come under attack by those who argue that a new generation of students and administrators are trading in academia’s most cherished values for political correctness and inclusion. At the heart of this debate is the question of safe spaces, how we define them, and whether they aid or hinder intellectual inquiry. Deeply rooted in social justice movements of the past, these spaces promise a reprieve from bigotry and oppression by allowing today’s students – the most culturally and racially diverse in history – the opportunity to express themselves in an empathetic environment. But to their critics, safe spaces pose a dire threat to free speech and undermine the resilience of a generation. Are safe spaces dangerously coddling young minds? Or are they a legitimate and necessary component of modern education?
Debaters:
David L. Hudson Jr.
First Amendment Scholar & Law Professor, Vanderbilt University
David L. Hudson Jr. is a First Amendment expert and law professor at Vanderbilt University. He is the author, co-author, or co-editor of more than 40 books and has written several devoted to student-speech issues, including “Freedom of Speech: Documents Decoded” and “Let the Students Speak: A History of the Fight for Free Expression in American Schools.” Hudson also serves as the First Amendment Ombudsman for the Newseum Institute’s First Amendment Center.
Suzanne Nossel
CEO, PEN America
Suzanne Nossel is a leading voice on free expression issues in the U.S. and globally. She is CEO of PEN America, the leading human rights and free expression organization, and was previously chief operating officer of Human Rights Watch and executive director of Amnesty International USA. She is a veteran of both the Obama and Clinton administrations, most recently serving as deputy assistant secretary of state for international organizations under President Obama.
Ashutosh Bhagwat
Law Professor, UC Davis
Ashutosh Bhagwat is the Martin Luther King Jr. professor of law at UC Davis and the author of “The Myth of Rights: The Purposes and Limits of Constitutional Rights.” He has written numerous books, articles, and book chapters on a wide variety of subjects, ranging from the structure of constitutional rights, to free speech law, to the California Electricity Crisis. After graduating from the University of Chicago Law School, Bhagwat clerked for Associate Justice Anthony M. Kennedy of the United States Supreme Court.
Michael S. Roth
President, Wesleyan University
Michael S. Roth is the president of Wesleyan University and is known as a historian, curator, author, and public advocate for liberal education. He has written a number of books including “Beyond the University: Why Liberal Education Matters,” which has been assigned to boards of trustees and incoming freshman alike and serves as a powerful tool for students, their families, faculty, and policymakers who are wrestling with the future of higher education in America.
To listen to the audio of “Trigger Warning: Safe Spaces Are Dangerous” on Intelligence Squared online, please click HERE.