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Summer Sunday Morning Speaker Series: Erika Salkin, “Civil Discourse and Free Expression”

Mar 28 @ 8:16 pm

Erika Salkin, Associate Professor of Communication, Whitworth University
Civil Discourse and Free Expression

In the current moment, it’s easy to believe that civil discourse and free expression are opponents, not allies. To preserve one, some have suggested it is time to restrict the other, in the hopes that regulating what can be said may lead to discussion and debate rather than discord and disunity. And yet, if we truly wish to live into a call to love one another, we must create more space, not less, to both share and receive expression. As the imperfect children of a loving God, we will not always get it right, and that can cause one to hesitate. Freedom of expression carries risk — Supreme Court Justice Abe Fortas once called it a “hazardous freedom” — and yet it is a risk worth taking.

Dr. Erika Salkin (BA and MA, Journalism & Mass Communication and PhD, Mass Communication, University of Wisconsin – Madison) is an associate professor of communication and Department Chair, Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington. Her research focuses on freedom of expression in academic settings, and she is the author of several articles and books on student media and student speech rights, including the recent Private Schools and Student Media: Supporting Mission, Students, and Community from Lexington Books. At Whitworth, she teaches courses in media writing, digital media, public relations and free speech as well as advises the student newspaper The Whitworthian. Whitworth University is a Presbyterian-Related Christian University affiliated with the Coalition of Christian Colleges and Universities.

Date
Mar 28 @ 8:16 pm