The University of Chicago

Center for the Study of Communication and Society

Freedoms of Speech: Anthropological Perspectives

(detailed schedule below poster)
Poster for event featuring a hand holding up a loud-speaker.

Freedoms of Speech:
Anthropological Perspectives

The Chicago Forum (5737 S. University Ave),
The University of Chicago
March 24, 2025
9am–5:30pm
***Register here.*** 

9am Welcome by Constantine V. Nakassis (University of Chicago)
Opening remarks by Matei Candea (University of Cambridge)

9:30-12pm  Panel 1, The Struggles and Limits of “Free Speech” (moderator: Jack Sidnell)

  • Webb Keane (University of Michigan), “When Speech Isn’t Free: Varieties of Metapragmatic Struggle”
  • Amahl Bishara (Tufts University), “Environments for Expression on Palestine: Fields, Fear, and the Politics of Movement”
  • Susan Gal (University of Chicago), “Designing Limits on Public Speaking: The Case of Hungary”
  • Discussant: Leora Auslander (University of Chicago)
  • Q&A/Discussion

1-3:30pm Panel 2, Therapeutics of Free Speech (moderator: Constantine V. Nakassis)

  • Michael Lempert (University of Michigan), “Free Speech, without Listening? Liberalism and the Problem of Reception”
  • E. Summerson Carr (University of Chicago), “An American Canard: The Freedom of (Therapeutic) Speech”
  • Sarah Pinto (Tufts University), “Secrecy, Curse, Psychiatrist, Saint: Scandals of Sexuality and Censorship in Global/Indian Publics”  
  • Discussant: Andreas Glaesser (University of Chicago) 
  • Q&A/Discussion

4-5:30pm Roundtable: Anthropologies of Freedoms of Speech (moderator: C. Nakassis)

  • Tony Banout (University of Chicago), 
  • Matei Candea (University of Cambridge), 
  • Jack Sidnell (University of Toronto), 
  • Sarah Pinto (Tufts University), 
  • Amahl Bishara (Tufts University)

5:30pm Closing remarks: Jack Sidnell (University of Toronto)

***REGISTER HERE.***

Sponsored by the Chicago Forum for Free Inquiry and Expression and the Center for the Study of Communication and Society at the University of Chicago. Lead support for the Chicago Forum’s Zell Speaker and Event Series comes from the Zell Family Foundation.