SC&I hosts ‘Free Speech Week’ with film, debate

Steve Miller, coordinator of Undergraduate Studies in Journalism and Media Studies, believes the freedom of speech and expression in the U.S. is what sets it apart from other nations.

Miller said this inherent human right should not only be practiced but also celebrated every day.

From a screening of the documentary Trumbo to a debate about Why Snowden matters, Free Speech Week, organized by the School of Communication and Information, aims to demonstrate and celebrate the essence of freedom of speech and expression.

Free Speech Week began yesterday and runs through Oct. 24.

The week began with a documentary about James Dalton Trumbo, a writer, actor and director who invoked the First Amendment.

Trumbo was one of several people castigated and thrown in jail for practicing free speech rights, Miller said.

Brian Householder, director of Undergraduate Studies in Communication said the SC&I partnered with freespeech.org, a non-profit organization that aims to promote freedom of speech.

We have the freedom to choose how to do the Free Speech Week, he said. Freespeech.org just promotes the idea. [The organization] gets people doing the thinking about the freedom of expression.

Today, a panel of SC&I faculty members will hold a discussion about the relationship between freedom of speech and academic freedom, Householder said. Tomorrow night will feature a debate by the Rutgers University Debate Union to discuss whether the U.S. House of Representatives should pardon Edward Snowden for the National Security Agency leaks.

Edward Snowden leaked classified documents in May about the NSA spying on U.S. citizens.

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SC&I hosts ‘Free Speech Week’ with film, debate