Conference Schedule
08:30–09:15
Registration and refreshments
09:15–09:40
Opening remarks and greetings
Roy Peled, Organizing Committee
Ruthy Lowenstein Lazar, Dean
Orna Ben-Naftali, Emile Zola Chair for Human Rights
09:45–11:15
Presentation Panels
Panel 1A – Many Shades of Censorship: How freedom of expression can be stifled on campus
Moderator: Adam Shinar (Reichman University)
Ken Levy (Louisiana State University) – LSU and Me: Profanity, Political Speech, and Academic Freedom
Suzanne Rutland (University of Sydney), Efrat Eilam (Victoria University) & Andrew Markus (Monash University) – Self‑Censorship and Hiding Jewish Identity: The Experience of Australian Jewish University Students
Elizabeth Weiss (San Jose State University) – Indigenous Control vs. Academic Inquiry
Nick Wolfinger (University of Utah) – Professors Speak Out: 20 Case Studies
Panel 1B – The Campus at Wartime: How universities manage wartime tensions
Moderator: Manal Totry-Jubran (Bar-Ilan University)
Sharon Avraham‑Weiss, Tammy Rubel‑Lifshitz (Tel-Aviv University), Yael Ben‑David, Or Rappel‑Kroyzer – Navigating Between Freedom of Expression and Community Cohesion in Academia During War: An Organizational Perspective
Idit Finkelstein (Ono Academic College)- Teaching in Wartime on Culturally Diverse Campuses: Digital Exposure, Academic Freedom, and Institutional Interests
Muhammad Khalaila (Haifa University) – The Role of Academic Institutions in a State of War: The Gaza‑Israel Conflict
Merav Salomon & Liat Brix‑Etgar (Bezalel Academy) – How to Sit on a Barrel of Explosives, Play with Matches and NOT Blow Up: A Framework for a Diverse, Free, Safe & Vibrant Art & Design Campus
11:15-11:30
Coffee Break
11:30–12:45
Presentation Panels
Panel 2A – Academic Freedom in Theory and in Practice
Moderator: Ido Baum (College of Management)
Sharona Aharoni‑Goldenberg (Netanya Academic College) – Balancing Clashing Scholars’ Academic Freedoms
Katharina Galor (Brown University), Noga Wolff (College of Manamgement) – The Boundaries of Academic Freedom: Israel Critique and the Politics of Repression
Stephen Sussman (Barry University), Amira Halperin (BICOM) – When Academic Freedom Becomes Weaponized: The Normalization of Antisemitic Expression in Academia
Moran Svorai (Hebrew University) – Academic Freedom as an Ethical Obligation
Panel 2B – Guardians or Czars? Government Regulation of Campus Speech
Moderator: Barak Medina (Hebrew University)
Jospeh Cohn (Yale University) – Can He Really do that?
Diane Klein Kemker (Loyola Law School (Los Angeles) and Vermont Law and Graduate School) – The Post‑Oct 7 Collapse of U.S. Academic‑Freedom Norms & Title VI Weaponization
Andy Lester (Spencer Fane LLP; Oklahoma State Regent Emeritus) & Mariana Pitts (Spencer Fane LLP) – The Oklahoma Free Speech Committee: An Experiment in the Systematic, System-Wide Protection of Individual Expression Rights
Lilach Litor (Open University) & Hadara Bar‑Mor (Netanya Academic College) – Government‑Assisted Codes for Campus Speech in Wartime (Israel)
13:00–14:15
Luncheon and talk
Campus Leadership Experiences
Moderator: Ya’ara Bar-On, Vice President, College of Management, Member of BaShaar
Barak Medina, former Provost, Hebrew University
Mark Shtaif, former Provost, Tel-Aviv University
14:15–15:45
Presentation Panels
Panel 3A – Who is the Institution? Balancing various institutional communities
Moderator: Barak Medina (Hebrew University)
Noah Drezner (Teachers College, Columbia University) – Selective Scrutiny: Philanthropy & Free Speech
Colleen Eren (William Paterson University) – Survey of Faculty on Political‑Statement‑Making & Academic Freedom
Alexander ‘Sasha’ Volokh (Emory University) – Universities’ First Amendment Right to Restrict Speech
Eti Zaltman (Hebrew University) – Regulating Academic Speech: Governance Structures as Shapers of the Boundaries of Academic Expression in Israel
Panel 3B – The University as a Community of Speakers
Moderator: Neta Ziv (Tel-Aviv University)
Einat Albin (Hebrew University), Ayala Hendin (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev) – Dignified Communication: Bringing Dignity, Equality, and Communication Back into Freedom of Expression
Eli Noam (Columbia University) – Organizing for Free Speech on Campus: Columbia Lessons
Pnina Levine (Curtin University)- Regulating Anti‑Israel Speech in Australian Universities While Upholding Academic Freedom
Smitha Khorana (Independent Scholar) – Campus free speech and incitement to violence
15:45–16:45
Keynote Conversation - Nadine Strossen
John Marshall Harlan II Professor of Law Emerita at New York Law School
Former President of the American Civil Liberties Union
Senior Fellow, Foundation for Inidividual Rights and Expression (FIRE)
Advisory Board Member, Heterodox Academy (HxA)