"Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All" - A Conversation with PEN America CEO, Suzanne Nossel
This event is not open to the public.
How can we foster a more just and inclusive society while maintaining strong free speech protections? Why do we have such robust safeguards for free expression in the Constitution? Where do we draw the line, legally and as a society?
Join the American Constitution Society and CEO of PEN America, Suzanne Nossel, on August 5th from 7-8pm EST for an exciting discussion on these questions and more from her latest book Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All. Topics will include cancel culture, "no platforming" debates, safe spaces, tensions between free speech and the fight for racial justice, online harassment and disinformation, and censorship, among others. Suzanne will also unpack the motivation behind robust free speech protections embedded in the Constitution, First Amendment exceptions, and how to think of today’s free expression controversies involving private, rather than state, actors.
Please RSVP and request any accommodations here. The event will feature 40-45 minutes of moderated Q&A, followed by open questions from the audience. Live captioning will also be provided.
To purchase a copy of Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All, learn more about PEN America, and/or become a PEN America member, visit here.
About Suzanne
Suzanne Nossel is Chief Executive Officer at PEN America and author of Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All. Prior to joining PEN America, she served as the Chief Operating Officer of Human Rights Watch and as Executive Director of Amnesty International USA. She has served in the Obama Administration as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations, leading US engagement in the UN and multilateral institutions on human right issues, and in the Clinton Administration as Deputy to the US Ambassador for UN Management and Reform. Nossel coined the term “Smart Power,” which was the title of a 2004 article she published in Foreign Affairs Magazine and later became the theme of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s tenure in office. She is a featured columnist for Foreign Policy magazine and has published op-eds in The New York Times, Washington Post, and LA Times, as well as scholarly articles in Foreign Affairs, Dissent, and Democracy, among others. Nossel serves on the Board of Directors of the Tides Foundation. She is a former senior fellow at the Century Foundation, the Center for American Progress, and the Council on Foreign Relations. Nossel is a magna cum laude graduate of both Harvard College and Harvard Law School.