The other day I mentioned that the University of Chicago had launched a wide-ranging and faculty-run forum for free expression (called simply “The Chicago Forum”), which is far more extensive than similar monitoring bodies at other universities. Unfortunately, I completely forgot about the online and live launch events on Thursday and Friday. Fortunately, my friend Jim Batterson watched it all and gives his take below. Also fortunately, the events will soon be put online (see also link at bottom) so you can watch whatever interests you. The reported lameness of the discussion involving FIRE, the ACLU, and the Heterodox Academy is disappointing, but I’ll still watch it.
Report on the Chicago Forum launch
by Jim Batterson
The new University of Chicago Forum Initiative for Free Inquiry and Freedom of Expression was kicked off Thursday and Friday, Oct 5/6, 2023. live on the university campus and available to the virtual world on livestream where I watched it. From the Forum’s website:
“At its outset, the University of Chicago was founded upon the idea that academic freedom and freedom of expression serve as the bedrock of education and the wellspring of discovery. While a shared commitment to free inquiry and expression is vital to our university’s culture, the integrity of its practice should never be taken for granted. Each successive generation of faculty, students, and staff has taken on the necessary, often challenging work of giving these principles meaning throughout the University’s history.
The University of Chicago Forum for Free Inquiry and Expression builds on our historic commitment and practices to provide a focal point for understanding and applying free expression, in academia and in the broader culture, in the United States and abroad. The Forum’s mission is to promote the understanding, practice, and advancement of free and open discourse, in collaboration with faculty and the broader university community.”
So The Forum was not just a two-day event but rather an ongoing initiative of the faculty, with ten advisors selected from various disciplines to develop a shared understanding of the UChicago’s key characteristics of free inquiry and expression.
The October 5 launch event was headlined by UChicago President Paul Alivisatos and a discussion on free expression including its history at the University of Chicago, involving a panel which included Jonathan Haidt, Nadine Strossen, Cathy Cohen, and Mary Dana Hinton.
The all-day October 6 program consisted of five 1.5-hour panels
Rising Illiberalisms: Tom Ginsburg with David French, Tracie D. Hall, Suzanne Nossel, and Amanda Williams
Technology Challenges: Social Media and AI with Joshua Cohen, Brandi Colins-Dexter, Nick Feamster, and Genevieve Lakier
The Lunch Program – The Political State of Affairs: Dysfunction or Hope? featuring David Axelrod, Senator Heidi Heitkamp, and Senator Richard Burr
An Arts and Free Expression Conversation with University of Chicago Board Chair David M. Rubenstein and Ayad Akhtar
Universities and the Wider World: Geoffrey R. Stone, Ben Wizner-ACLU, Alex Morey-FIRE, & Jeff Flier-Heterodox Academy
I thought that the people on the panels, the audience Q&A, and the general ideas raised were excellent, and I highly recommend watching the topics that most interest you. That said, the last panel, which I had thought would be the best with representatives from the ACLU, FIRE, and Heterodox Academy, was disappointing, with Ben Wizner of the ACLU never taking a strong position, even on the final question from a student regarding the Coleman Hughes kerfuffle.
Anyway, these two days were a great beginning, but only that. There is much more to be done to clearly define the issues with concrete examples. Of course the Forum will be an ongoing activity, so I look forward to additional programs as the Forum develops.
According to the Office of University Events, videos of the panels will be posted in about a week’s time on the Forum’s website at https://thechicagoforum.uchicago.edu/
+1
The best was David Rubenstein’s interview of Ayad Akhtar. That guy was a true revelation. There were no dull moments. Even Rubenstein seemed surprised.