Posts

Jane Fenton on freedom of expression and debate in the university classroom

Jane Fenton, social work lecturer at the University of Dundee, joins us for a lovely conversation about free speech in the classroom. During the Q&A after the talk, there are some interruptions because the microphone could not capture audio coming from the whole room, our apologies. For more information about the society, look up Dundee University Free Speech Society on Facebook or Instagram. To contact us, email freespeechsociety@dundee.ac.uk.

The other side: Israeli-Palestinian conflict

The second lecture of "The other side" is presented by AndrĂ©, the president of the society, and focuses on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We hope you will find this a complete, comprehensible and (mostly) unbiased account of the events that made the Israeli-Palestinian conflict what it is today. For more information about the society, look up Dundee University Free Speech Society on Facebook or Instagram. To contact us, email freespeechsociety@dundee.ac.uk.

Neil Thin on moral curiosity and the campus social climate

Neil Thin, the Edinburgh social anthropology lecturer towards which there was a cancellation attempt earlier this year, joins us for a conversation about the current sentiment of academia towards moral curiosity. For more information about the society, look up Dundee University Free Speech Society on Facebook or Instagram. To contact us, email freespeechsociety@dundee.ac.uk.

The other side: vaccines

Introducing "The other side", a series of lectures focused on tackling the divide between the different sides of pretty much every issue. Today's world is filled with self-entitlement, very obvious on how defenders of different sides of controversial issues portray their opponents (this was very obvious in the way the left justified Donald Trump's victory in the 2016 election by describing his voters as racists, sexists, homophobes, etc., and in the way the right describes leftists, as communists, snowflakes, cry-babies, etc.). We think that this is one of the main issues in our society, which dehumanises and delegitimises everyone that has contrary opinions. If nothing changes about this phenomenon, we fear that society will progress to increasingly larger divides between the different sides of important arguments and controversies, to a point where reaching a consensus will be impossible. Therefore, we pretend to fight against this trend, by portraying the advocates

David Booth on academic freedom

 David Booth, lecturer at the School of Life Sciences, joins us for a conversation about academic freedom and free speech in science. For more information about the society, look up Dundee University Free Speech Society on Facebook or Instagram. To contact us, email uodfreespeechsociety@gmail.com. 

Jade Kouletakis on Scotland's Hate Crime Bill

 Jade Kouletakis, lecturer of Law at the University of Abertay, joins us for a conversation about Scotland's new, and controversial, Hate Crime Bill. For more information about the society, look up Dundee University Free Speech Society on Facebook or Instagram. To contact us, email uodfreespeechsociety@gmail.com.