THREATS TO ACADEMIC FREEDOM AND FREE SPEECH

February 7-8, 2018 § JW Marriott, Washington D.C.

Sponsored by the Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University

Welcome to the Policy Research Seminar on Threats to Academic Freedom

and Free Speech, sponsored by The Institute for Humane Studies (IHS) at

George Mason University. You have been invited to this event because we hold

your work in high esteem for both its scholarly contributions and for its practical

application to our understanding of a free society. We encourage you to join in

what promises to be an active and lively conversation, and to draw from your

own research and experiences throughout the discussion.

Some of the primary goals for this program are to assist in facilitating a coalition

of traditional and non-traditional scholars in an effort to catalyze principled

discussions about free speech on campus, and promote future interaction that

encourages engagement in more policy-relevant work. This roundtable features

several world-class speakers who will share their research and experiences

regarding free speech and open inquiry in higher education and what they

perceive as threats to academic freedom. We have found that some of the

best conversations from our seminars occur spontaneously in the hallways

and during meals and receptions, so we respectfully ask you to be present for

scheduled events.

Thank you again for joining us. We look forward to meeting each of you

individually over the course of the seminar, and we hope you benefit as much

from this seminar as we benefit from having you in attendance. Please don’t

hesitate to let us know if we may do anything to improve your experience.

Sincerely,

Ashley DonohueAcademic Talent Development, Director Institute for Humane Studies

Founded in 1961 by Dr. F.A. “Baldy” Harper, the Institute for Humane Studies is the leading institute

in higher education dedicated to championing classical liberal ideas and the scholars who advance

them. Specifically, we facilitate the impact of the academic community both on and beyond college

campuses—partnering with faculty to connect with students through campus programs, connecting

scholars to opportunities to further their careers both inside and outside of the academy, and offering

current and aspiring professors access to the foremost community of scholars working within the

classical liberal tradition.

IHS Policy Research SeminarsIHS Policy Research Seminars seek to bridge the gap between academia and policy by

encouraging the use of academic research to influence policy change. Seminars give an

audience of advanced graduate students, policy experts, and faculty the chance to connect with

like-minded individuals and help to facilitate connections with our partner organizations with

the goal of producing future research, speaking, and publishing opportunities.

This two day seminar explores academic freedom and open inquiry in America’s higher education

system and the topics that may threaten them. The program will feature scholars who address this

topic through their research or engagement, as well as members of policy organizations whose work

intersects with free speech on campus.

PROGRAM SCHEDULE

7:00-9:00 PM | Welcome Reception and Registration (Optional) Senate Room

8:00-9:00 AM | Breakfast and Registration Senate Room

9:00-9:15 AM | Welcome and Seminar Introduction Congressional Room

• Brad Jackson, Institute for Humane Studies

9:15-10:45 AM | Roundtable Discussion 1: Student Culture and Free Speech Congressional Room

• Jonathan Zimmerman, University of Pennsylvania• Nadine Strossen, New York University

10:45-11:00 AM | Coffee Break Congressional Room Foyer

11:00-12:30 PM | Policy Panel: Free Speech Policies on Campus Congressional Room

• Joe Cohn, Foundation for Individual Rights in Education• Shelby Emmett, American Legislative Exchange Council• Gabe Rottman, PEN America• Lee Rowland, ACLU

Wednesday, February 7th

Thursday, February 8th

PROGRAM SCHEDULE

12:30-1:30 PM | Lunch Senate Room

1:30-3:00 PM | Roundtable Discussion 2: Academic Freedom Challenges for Faculty

Congressional Room

• Jon Shields, Claremont McKenna College• Gerard Alexander, University of Virginia

3:00-3:15 PM | Coffee Break Congressional Room Foyer

3:15-4:45 PM | Roundtable Discussion 3: University Structure and Academic Freedom Congressional Room

• Sam Abrams, Sarah Lawrence College

4:45-6:15 PM | Afternoon Break

6:15-7:15 PM | Dinner and Keynote Senate Room

• Donald Downs, University of Wisconsin- Madison

7:15-7:30 PM | Opportunities at the Institute for Humane Studies Senate Room

• Brad Jackson, Institute for Humane Studies

7:30-9:30 PM | Reception Congressional Room

SPEAKER BIOS

SAMUEL ABRAMS SABRAMS@SLC.EDU

Samuel Abrams is a professor of politics and social science at Sarah Lawrence College, a

research fellow with the Hoover Institution, and a faculty fellow with New York Universi-

ty’s Center for Advanced Social Science Research. Dr. Abrams has been widely published

in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The American Interest, and The Chronicle of

Higher Education, among others. He is the author of several books on a variety of topics including public opin-

ion, Congress, religion and society, and polarization. His scholarly articles have been featured in peer-reviewed

journals such as the British Journal of Political Science, The Jewish Journal, and PS: Political Science & Politics.

He is presently working on two book projects exploring partisanship, polarization, and society. Dr. Abrams

has an M.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard University and is an alumnus of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of

Government Program on Inequality and Social Policy. He received his A.B. in political science and sociology

from Stanford University.

GERARD ALEXANDER GERARDALEX@GMAIL.COM

Gerard Alexander is an Associate Professor at the University of Virginia. His research

began with a focus on the conditions of democratic consolidation in advanced indus-

trial countries, especially in Western Europe. His first book — The Sources of Democratic

Consolidation (Cornell University Press, 2002) — argued that the key right-of-center

political movements formed long-term commitments to democracy only when their political risks in democ-

racy became relatively low as left agendas moderated across time. Variation in these risks was used to explain

variation in conservative regime preferences and in regime outcomes in Europe’s five largest countries from

the 1870’s France to 1980’s Spain. This first research project also included two articles with related but distinct

arguments. In the Journal of Theoretical Politics (2001), he argued that formal political institutions in democra-

cy cannot create the degree of predictability needed for consolidation. In Comparative Political Studies (2002),

he argues that non-formal social-structural characteristic of countries are more important causes of regime

outcomes than the formal regime characteristics emphasized in prominent claims concerning the rule of law

and “institutionalized uncertainty.” Related reasoning is the basis of an article in The National Interest, The

Authoritarian Illusion (2004). His current research concerns factors affecting the size and role of government in

selected cases in Western Europe and also the United States, and how they influence conservative attempts at

reform of welfare states.

JOE COHN JOE@THEFIRE.ORG

Joe Cohn, FIRE’s Legislative and Policy Director, is a 2004 graduate of the University of

Pennsylvania Law School and the Fels Institute of Government Administration, where he

earned his Juris Doctor and master’s in Government Administration. Prior to law school,

Joe attended the University of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV), where he graduated cum

laude and co-founded the university’s ACLU chapter. A former staff attorney for the United States Court of

Appeals for the Third Circuit and law clerk in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, Joe joins FIRE having

demonstrated a career-long dedication to advancing the cause of civil liberties. He has served as a staff attor-

ney at the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania, where his work earned him accolades from The Legal Intelligenc-

er and Pennsylvania Law Weekly (“2007 Lawyer on the Fast Track”) in 2007 and from Super Lawyers magazine

(“Rising Star”) in 2008. In 2010, Joe taught at the University of Pennsylvania Law School as an adjunct profes-

sor, where he lectured on good trial practices and supervised law students as they represented real clients

in both state and federal courts. Just prior to joining FIRE, Joe served as the interim legal director for ACLU

affiliates in Nevada and Utah.

DONALD DOWNS DA.DOWNS@HOTMAIL.COM

Donald Downs is the Alexander Meiklejohn Emeritus Professor of Political Science at the

University of Wisconsin, and an affiliate professor of law and journalism.

His prize winning books include Nazis in Skokie; The New Politics of Pornography; More

than Victims: Battered Women, the Syndrome Society, and the Law; Cornell `69: Liberalism

and the Crisis of the American University; Restoring Free Speech and Liberty on Campus; and the recently published

Arms and the University: Military Presence and the Civic Education on Non-Military Students.

Among other activities, he co-founded the Wisconsin Center for the Study of Liberal Democracy, and was

the faculty founder of the UW-Madison’s chapter of the Alexander Hamilton Society. He has been a nationally

recognized leader at UW and the nation for promoting free speech and academic freedom on campus. He is

the faculty consultant to the Institute for Humane Studies in its national Free Speech and Open Inquiry Project.

He has won numerous teaching awards, and was the recipient of the national 2013 Jean J. Kirkpatrick Academ-

ic Freedom Award.

SHELBY EMMETT SEMMETT@ALEC.ORG

Shelby Emmett graduated from James Madison College at Michigan State University (GO

GREEN!!) in 2006 with a dual-major in Political Theory & Constitutional Democracy and

Social Relations & Policy. Shelby attended the David A. Clarke School of Law in Washing-

ton, D.C. Shelby received her J.D. in 2011 and is a member of the Maryland Bar.

In 2012, Shelby was the Legislative Fellow with the Republican Study Committee, the largest caucus in the

House of Representatives. During the 113th session of Congress, Shelby served as Legislative Counsel for Mich-

igan’s 11th district, responsible for a broad legislative portfolio including education and civil rights.

LEE ROWLAND LEEBERKS@GMAIL.COM

Lee Rowland (@berkitron) is a senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and

Technology Project. Lee has extensive experience as a litigator, lobbyist, and public

speaker. She has served as lead counsel in federal First Amendment cases involving

public employee speech rights, the First Amendment rights of community advocates,

government regulation of digital speech, and state secrecy surrounding the lethal injection process. She also

authors amicus briefs and blogs on topics including the intersection of speech and privacy, student and public

employee speech, obscenity, and the Communications Decency Act.

While at the ACLU, Lee has served as an adjunct clinical professor for NYU Law’s Technology Law and Policy

Clinic, a member of the New York Bar Association’s Communications and Media Law Committee, and an

adjunct faculty member in the Human Rights Program at the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter

College. Lee was previously a voting rights counsel with the Brennan Center for Justice; and before that, ran

the Reno office of the ACLU of Nevada, where she regularly argued before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

and the Nevada Supreme Court. Lee is a graduate of Middlebury College and Harvard Law School.

GABE ROTTMAN GROTTMAN@PEN.ORG

Gabe Rottman is the Washington director for PEN America, where he will work to ad-

vance PEN’s mission and defend freedom of expression in Congress and the executive

branch. He joins PEN from the Center for Democracy and Technology, where he was

deputy director for the Freedom, Security and Technology Project, focused on issues at

the intersection of civil liberties and technology, including cybersecurity and computer crime.

Prior to CDT, Gabe was a legislative counsel and policy advisor at the American Civil Liberties Union, where

he led federal advocacy on open government, access to justice, and the First Amendment. At the ACLU, he also

worked extensively on national security issues and cybersecurity—especially as they relate to the First Amend-

ment and press freedom. From 2007 to 2012, Gabe was a litigation associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP,

specializing in antitrust and national security matters. Before law school, Gabe worked in public relations, and

was a communications staffer, senior writer, and consultant for the ACLU for seven years.

Gabe has testified before Congress on issues related to free speech and open government, and is frequently

quoted in the media on technology and civil liberties matters. He has written for numerous outlets, including

the New York Times, Washington Post, Politico, CNN, and Roll Call.

Gabe has a joint honors B.A. in political science and history from McGill University, and a law degree from

the Georgetown University Law Center. He is a member of the bar in New York and Washington, D.C.

JONATHAN SHIELDS JON.SHIELDS@CLAREMONTMCKENNA.EDU

Jon Shields is associate professor of government at Claremont McKenna College. He is

the coauthor (with Joshua Dunn) of Passing on the Right: Conservative Professors in the

Progressive University (Oxford University Press) and The Democratic Virtues of the Christian

Right (Princeton University Press). Shields’ work has been featured in the New York Times, New Yorker, National

Public Radio, National Review, and Wall Street Journal. Currently he is working with Stephanie Muravchik on a

new book, tentatively titled Trump’s Democrats.

NADINE STROSSEN NADINE.STROSSEN@NYLS.EDU

Nadine Strossen, the John Marshall Harlan II Professor of Law at New York Law School, has

taught and advocated extensively in constitutional law, civil liberties, and international

human rights. She is the immediate past President of the American Civil Liberties Union

(1991-2008), and now serves on the ACLU’s National Advisory Council, as well as the

National Board of Advisors for the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), the Foundation for Individual

Rights in Education (FIRE), and Heterodox Academy (HxA). When Strossen stepped down as ACLU President in

2008, three Supreme Court Justices (Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Antonin Scalia, and David Souter) participated in her

farewell/tribute luncheon. Her forthcoming book, HATE: Why We Should Resist It With Free Speech, Not Censorship

will be published by Oxford University Press in May 2018.

Strossen has also held leadership positions in other human rights organizations, including Human Rights

Watch and the National Coalition Against Censorship. The National Law Journal has named Strossen one of

America’s “100 Most Influential Lawyers,” and several other national publications have named her as one of the

country’s most influential women; she also has received awards for her free speech advocacy.

Strossen has made thousands of public presentations before diverse audiences, including on more than 500

campuses and in many foreign countries. She has commented frequently on legal issues in the national media.

Her more than 300 published writings have appeared in many scholarly and general interest publications. Her

book, Defending Pornography: Free Speech, Sex, and the Fight for Women’s Rights, was named by the New York

Times as a “notable book” of 1995.

JONATHAN ZIMMERMAN JLZIMM@AOL.COM

Jonathan Zimmerman is a professor of education and history at the University of Pennsyl-

vania. A former Peace Corps volunteer and high school teacher, Zimmerman is the author

of The Case for Contention: Teaching Controversial Issues in American Schools and six other

books. Zimmerman is also a frequent contributor to the Washington Post, the New York

Times, and other popular newspapers and magazines. Before coming to Penn in 2016, Zimmerman taught for

20 years at New York University, where he received NYU’s Distinguished Teaching Award in 2008.

STAFF BIOS

EMILY CHAMLEE WRIGHT ECHAMLEEWRIGHT@IHS.GMU.EDU

Dr. Emily Chamlee-Wright, President of the Institute for Humane Studies, joined IHS in

November 2016 with an accomplished record as an academic leader, scholar and educator.

From 2012 to 2016 she served as Provost and Dean at Washington College and was previously

the Elbert H. Neese Professor of Economics and Associate Dean at Beloit College. Emily earned her Ph.D. in

economics from George Mason University and has published six books. She is a former W.K. Kellogg National

Leadership Fellow and received the Excellence in Teaching Award from Beloit College, a Distinguished Alumna

Award from George Mason University, and the 2014 Charles G. Koch Outstanding IHS Alum Award.

JUSTIN DAVIS JDAVIS@IHS.GMU.EDU

Justin Davis serves as the Academic Talent Development Program Manager at IHS, where he

hopes to facilitate the advancement of classical liberal ideas by connecting the worlds of ac-

ademia and policy. He completed his M.A. in Economics at George Mason University in 2016

and previously attained his B.S. in Business Administration from The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. His

research interests include monetary institutions, entrepreneurship, and institutional development. Justin also

served in the United States Army’s Corps of Engineers for three years as the squad leader of a bridge erection

team. His army tenure stationed him in Fort Knox, Kentucky and included a deployment to Afghanistan with

the 502nd Engineer Company, where he was a part of the first multi-role bridge company in the country. Justin

currently lives in Capitol Hill with his wife Sarah, an interior and graphic designer, and their dog Max.

BRADLEY JACKSON BJACKSON@IHS.GMU.EDU

Bradley Jackson is the Program Officer for Free Speech and Open Inquiry at the Institute for

Humane Studies. Prior to joining IHS, he taught courses in political theory and American

government at Hillsdale College, Eastern Michigan University, and Michigan State University.

He holds a B.A. in Philosophy and a Ph.D. in Political Science from Michigan State University.

He is also a Lecturer in the Department of Government at American University.

HOTEL FLOOR PLAN

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for more information on future IHS Policy Research Seminars.

If you are interested in becoming a partner organization, or would like to

make a general inquiry about the Institute for Humane Studies’ Policy Research

Seminars, please contact Justin Davis at PolicyResearch@TheIHS.org.