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Why does free speech matter, and why is it worth defending?
Speaker: Jonathan Zimmerman, Professor of History of Education and Berkowitz Professor in Education, University of Pennsylvania
In this public lecture, Professor Jonathan Zimmerman explores four fundamental reasons free speech remains essential to a free society. Touching on questions of political accountability, social justice, artistic expression, and education, he examines how freedom of expression shapes the way we challenge power, contest ideas, create culture, and learn from one another. Drawing on insights from his acclaimed work on free speech, Zimmerman reflects on why these freedoms matter—and why protecting them remains vital to democratic life.
Jonathan Zimmerman is Professor of History of Education and Berkowitz Professor in Education at the University of Pennsylvania. A former Peace Corps volunteer and high school teacher, Zimmerman is the author of Whose America? Culture Wars in the Public Schools and eight other books. He is also a frequent oped contributor to the Washington Post, the Chronicle of Higher Education, and other popular newspapers and magazines. Zimmerman previously taught for 20 years at New York University, where he received its Distinguished Teaching Award.
Professor Zimmerman’s visit to Perth is supported by the Forrest Research Foundation and the UWA Institute of Advanced Studies.
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