Video Series

Greg LuLukianoff, an attorney and New York Times best-selling author, is president and CEO of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). He is the author of Unlearning Liberty: Campus Censorship and the End of American Debate, Freedom from Speech, and FIRE’s Guide to Free Speech on Campus. His presentation discusses what it means to have free speech on a university campus and how campuses have reacted to concerns about free speech.

Hear more from Greg Lukianoff on topics discussed at his program on “Freedom from Speech and Disempowering a Generation,” presented as part of IUP’s Year of Free Speech during the April 15, 2019 Six O’Clock Series.

Jeffrey Rosen, professor of law at the George Washington University Law School and president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, presented “Free Speech, the Constitution, and the Public University” at IUP on April 17.

What’s the best way to educate yourself about free speech? According to Jeffrey Rosen, professor of law at the George Washington University Law School and president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, it’s study the Constitution. Mr. Rosen also talks about civic virtue, which was discussed by the framers of the Constitution; and the future of social media and the First Amendment.

Members of The Slants –Simon “Young” Tam and Joe X. Jiang – gave a concert and presentation at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) on May 3, 2019, as the final event in the university’s Year of Free Speech programming. Tam talked about his eight-year battle to reclaim the term “slants,” and rights of all marginalized communities “to determine what’s best for ourselves.”

Hear more from Simon Tam, member of The Slants, an Asian-American rock band, about his Supreme Court case, his perspective about freedom of speech and how to approach speech that you might be offensive to you and how to approach the issue with a spirit of “justice and fairness.”

Political Science associate professor Gwen Torges talks about the final event in IUP’s Year of Free Speech—a concert and presentation by two members of the Slants—and how the group’s efforts to trademark its name resulted in a Supreme Court case.

Political Science associate professor Gwen Torges, a constitutional law scholar and a member of IUP’s Free Speech Project, raises the question about how—and why—the First Amendment protects hate speech

Gwen Torges, associate professor in the Department of Political Science at IUP, invites the IUP community to attend the next Speech Space event. It will be held at Winter Warm-up, an event where students can meet all the different clubs and organizations at IUP, on Friday, February 1, 2019, at the Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex from 3:00 until 6:00 p.m. All IUP students are encouraged to attend.

Gian Pagnucci, Distinguished University Professor and professor of English, offers a tour of the history of censorship of comic books. The presentation included images from comic books throughout the years and a special visit from Marvel’s Captain America.

What is the First Amendment’s remedy for hateful speech? According to IUP political science associate professor Gwen Torges, a Constitutional law scholar and a member of IUP’s Free Speech Project, the First Amendment’s recommendation for speech that offends or is hurtful isn’t to prohibit or limit speech; its prescription is to encourage more speech.

Students are getting involved in the Year of Free Speech at IUP thanks to the Speech Space Squad. The squad was out in the IUP Oak Grove asking students if they felt like the government should have the power to punish journalists.

IUP Political Science Associate Professor and First Amendment Content Specialist Gwen Torges talks about how time, place, and manner make a difference in matters of free speech on campus. Founding Father Ben Franklin (aka David Chambers, IUP Political Science) offers some sage advice about how Words Matter.

IUP’s Year of Free Speech programming began with the September 10, 2018 Six O’Clock Series, “Words: Use Responsibly.” The panel discussion included David Chambers, chairman, IUP Political Science Department and chair of the IUP Free Speech Project, who served as moderator; John Wesley Lowery, chairman, Student Affairs in Higher Education; IUP Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Timothy Moerland; Keith Stinnette, a Kinesiology, Health, and Sport Science major; and Gwen Torges, First Amendment content specialist and associate professor, IUP Political Science Department. Lowery, Sinnette, and Torges are all members of the Free Speech Project.

Following the September 10, 2018 Six O’Clock Series, “Words: Use Responsibly,” IUP Communication Disorders, Special Education, and Disability Services major Hannah Peterson talks about sometimes feeling like she needs to walk on eggshells because she doesn’t want to say the wrong thing, and how programming about free speech is a benefit to her.

IUP Provost Timothy Moerland offers his thoughts about the September 10, 2018, Six O’Clock Series, “Words: Use Responsibly.” He talks about the need to use freedom of speech in both ways, that if speech is problematic, the need to “talk it through.”

IUP English major Triona Fant wonders where is the line between hate speech and free speech, and came to the September 17, 2018 Six O’Clock Series to learn more about the issue of Free Speech. Hear her perspective about the issue.

IUP’s Year of Free Speech programming continued with the Constitution Day celebration, which included a panel discussion with four of the Constitution’s authors—Ben Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Charles Pinckney, and James Madison—who discussed the challenges in drafting the Constitution and speculated about what the Founders would think of today’s politics. The Founders were portrayed, respectively, by IUP political science professors David Chambers and Steven Jackson, retired political science professor Mac Fiddner, and history professor Joe Mannard.

IUP communications media and marketing major Stephen Smartnick offers his perspective about freedom of speech following the September 17, 2018, Six O’Clock Series “A Casual Conversation with the Framers of the U.S. Constitution.”

IUP history major Cameron Craig reacts to the Six O'Clock Series: “A Casual Conversation with the Framers of the U.S. Constitution,” and shares his perspective of how we need to work together to better understand each other’s perspectives when it comes to free speech.