Discussing the future of open debate, free speech, and the Founding Fathers’ legacy.
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Common Sense Society (CSS), a leading international educational network, announced it will launch the Free Speech College Tour, a series of campus discussions with guest speaker and bestselling author Douglas Murray, at universities in the South to debate free speech, freedom of thought, and how we view our history. During the week of February 21st, Murray and Marion Smith, president and C.E.O. of CSS, will be visiting the University of Virginia (UVA), Wofford College, and the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill for a series of engaging lectures and on-campus discussions on these important topics.
Free speech on college campuses is under attack. Students and professors alike are expected to accept certain dogmas about controversial topics, which crushes room for honest and rigorous debate. If we can’t even freely discuss the Founding Fathers’ own legacy, what does this tell us about the future of Western civilization? Are universities like Thomas Jefferson’s UVA no longer marketplaces of ideas and forums for open debate? If not, where are the alternative forums today?
Events include both private campus lectures and community lectures with Q&A open to the public. The tour begins at the University of Virginia’s Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy on Tuesday, February 21st, followed by lectures and public events at Wofford College in Spartanburg, SC, and private and community events at UNC Chapel Hill. The Tour concludes with a community event in Richmond, Virginia on Friday, February 24, 2023.
UPDATE: A recap from each event with additional resources or video from the event can be found here for UVA, here for UNC, or here for Wofford.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Douglas Murray is an associate editor of The Spectator, author of The War on the West, and host of a new podcast series “Uncanceled History”. His previous book The Madness of Crowds was a bestseller and a book of the year for The Times and The Sunday Times, while his book The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam spent almost twenty weeks on The Sunday Times bestseller list and was a number one bestseller in nonfiction.
Common Sense Society (CSS) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that promotes liberty, prosperity, and beauty through education and public discourse. The fellowships, curriculum resources, publications, cultural programs, and national campaigns of CSS illuminate the enduring ideas that have transformed the course of human history for the better. CSS does not accept funding from governments or political parties.
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For more information, contact Emily Soper at emily@commonsensesociety.org.