Free Speech: Philosophical Origins to Digital Debates

Catalog description

This course examines the origins of free speech starting with the Greeks and ending in recent debates about digital speech. It focuses on differing conceptions of free speech, from individual expression to collective amplification and technology. From the perspective of critical theory we take up issues of power such as who gets to speak and be heard with particular attention to media industries. The course critically examines moments in which speech rights have been debated on campuses, such as the Berkeley Free Speech Movement and Black Lives Matter. Contemporary issues such as trolling, hacking, and mob censorship are discussed.