Free Speech on Campus, Spring 2026
The Philosophy Department, the CSUS Council for Academic Freedom, the Center for Practical and Professional Ethics, the Heterodox Academy hosts a public discussion for the campus community:
We’re facing a free speech crisis in America on a number of fronts. This teach-in discussion is intended to educate about the basic philosophical arguments and issues surrounding free speech, and to promote open, constructive, civil dialogue about free speech, and on the topics that are dividing us.
1: Free speech on Campus: Legal and Philosophical Foundations
What are our First Amendment rights? When and how can free speech be curtailed?
What are the philosophical foundations of our right to free speech? Why is it important?
What should be the role of free speech on campus?
What role should disagreement play in our education?
Ideally, how should we facilitate those discussions on campus and in the classroom?
Is violence ever acceptable? Shouting down and deplatforming?
What can we do about students self-censoring around other students and in the classroom?
Hosted and moderated by Prof. Matt McCormick, Philosophy, Co-chair of CSUS Council for Academic Freedom
Prof. Christina Bellon, Philosophy, Former Associate Dean and Interim Dean, College of Arts and Letters
Thursday, Feb. 5 from 4:30-6:30 in Mendocino 1003. Everyone in the campus community is welcome.