OSUN Themes: Arts and Society; Democratic Practice; Human Rights
Freedom of Expression
Term: March 3, 2025 – May 28, 2025Level: 200-Level
Day/Time: Wednesday 8:10 AM - 11:20 AM EDT
Instructor: Kseniya Shtalenkova, European Humanities University
This course provides an introduction to debates about freedom of expression. What is ‘freedom of speech’? Is there a right to say anything? Why? The course investigates who has had this right, where and why, and what it has had to do in particular with politics and culture. What powers does speech have, and for what? Debates about censorship, dissidence and protest, hate speech, the First Amendment and Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are obvious starting points, but the course also explores some less obvious questions: about faith and the secular, the rights of minorities, migration, surveillance, speaking and political agency, law and politics, social media, and the force(s) of words. In asking about the status of the speaking human subject, the course looks at how the subject of rights, and indeed the thought of human rights itself, derives from an experience of claiming, speaking, and speaking up. These questions are examined, if not answered, across a variety of philosophical, legal, journalistic, and political texts, with a heavy dose of case studies (many of them happening right now) and readings in contemporary critical and legal theory. Taught in parallel with OSUN partner institutions where many assignments and activities are shared, and students work jointly with peers at other schools. This course is part of an OSUN Network Collaborative Course.
Credits: 4 US / 8 ECTS
Please Note: This course section is part of an OSUN Network Collaborative course and includes learning opportunities with students and faculty from Eastern Humanities University, Al-Quds Bard College, American University of Central Asia and Bard College. The course is taught on-campus and in-person at these institutions where you can register locally through your home institution. If your campus offers this course, please register locally instead of through the OSUN registration site.