Free Speech Cafes
Drop in for informal panel discussions held around campus about free speech rights and responsibilities—no registration necessary! Cafés are hosted by a moderator and 2-3 panelists, who take questions from the audience. All cafes are eligible for Signature credit in the Civic Engagement pathway in ExperienceWMU. Check back soon for more information or sign up for We Talk event notifications.
Past events
Constitution Day Celebration
Wednesday, September 13, 2023
Lee Honors College
Navigating Controversy in the Classroom
Monday, March 20, 2022
Join us for a conversation on academic freedom and free expression in the classroom. As universities deal with balancing free expression and creating a safe space for students, what are the legal boundaries of what instructors can teach their students or say in the classroom? What protections are in place for scholars to challenge the status quo and present research findings that may be controversial?
Academic Freedom in the News:
New York Times: A lecturer showed a Painting of the Prophet Muhammad. She Lost Her Job.
Fox News 9: Muslim community honors Prophet Muhammad after incident at Hamline University
Statement from the National Council of American-Islamic Relations on the incident and response
Don't Ban Depictions of Muhammad from the Classroom: Opinion Piece
Free Speech in the Classroom
Monday, Oct. 17, 2022
How do we create a classroom environment in which students feel free to share their perspective without fear of judgment or retaliation? Join us as we talk with Professor Dave Paul and WMU honors students Bella Loe Proulx and David Roderick about how free speech—or restrictions on it—affect learning on campus.
Constitution Day Celebration
Monday, Sept. 19, 2022
Lee Honors College
6 p.m.
Constitution Trivia Challenge and Pizza Party (free Jet's Pizza!)
Constitution Day lecture
Transatlantic Justice in Early America
Presented by Dr. Sally Hadden, a legal historian of early America and the antebellum United States and a professor in WMU’s Department of History. Dr. Hadden spoke about the forerunner of judicial review: the process of appealing cases for a rehearing from the American colonies to the Privy Council in England--and the steps colonial politicians took to prevent those appeals from happening. This restriction on access to justice by appeal put some colonists at odds with their own political leaders. The lecture is annually co-hosted by the Departments of History and Political Science. Event flyer.
past cafe recordings
Who's in control on social?
April 14, 2022
Lee Honors College
Should money talk?
March 15, 2022
Public Media Network
View program
Where is the line? Free speech protections vs legitimate threats
February 24, 2022
Lee Honors College
Haters gonna hate? Responding intelligently to hate speech.
January 26, 2022
Lee Honors College
Do we have to let them speak here?
November 16, 2021
Bernhard Center Lobby
Free speech on campus
October 2021
Bernhard Center
The changing role of media in a free society: listen, learn and speak out
In August 2021, we invited local media representatives to share their views on the role the media plays in civil discourse, free speech and social dynamics in this panel discussion broadcast by Public Media Network on August 18. Stream it here. Panelists: Sue Ellen Christian, moderator, professor of communication and Presidential Innovation Professor; Mickey Ciokajlo, local news editor, MLive.com; Buddy Hannah, retired radio host, community storyteller; Aya Miller, editor-in-chief, Western Herald.
Thank you to our Supporters
The We Talk civil discourse initiative and the Free Speech Cafés are supported in part by Heterodox Academy. The ability for HxA to provide grants for HxCommunities events and other activities are made possible in full through the support of the John Templeton Foundation. The opinions expressed at these events (or through such activities) are those of the individual grantees, organizers, speakers, presenters, and attendees of such events/activities and do not necessarily reflect the views of Heterodox Academy and/or the John Templeton Foundation