Freedom of Speech: An Academic War Front

Professor Barak Medina is the Landecker-Ferencz chair in the study of Protection of Minorities and Vulnerable Groups at the faculty of law of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Professor Lee Epstein is the Ethan A.H. Shepley Distinguished University Professor at Washington University in St. Louis in the Department of Political Science. Moderated by Chancellor Andrew D. Martin of Washington University in St. Louis

The Department of Jewish, Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies (JIMES) at Washington University of St. Louis is proud to host a conversation between Prof. Barak Medina of Hebrew University in Jerusalem, and Prof. Lee Epstein of WashU, moderated by Chancellor Andrew D. Martin, on freedom of speech as an emerging front in the context of the Israel-Hamas war as the 2024 entry in the Stern Family Lecture Series.

Professors Medina and Epstein will share their scholarly insights and practical experiences from recent debates on freedom of speech and its limits, both in Israel and the US. These limits were challenged in the context of the Free Palestine Encampment Movement that began at Columbia University in Spring 2024, as well as in crackdowns on permissible speech that have led to people being fired from their jobs or disciplined or expelled from universities in Israel.

The event is free and open to the public, and will be held at the Umrath lounge on the Danforth campus of Washington University in St. Louis. The event will begin with a reception at 5:30 p.m.

Prof. Barak Medina is a legal scholar working on theoretical, comparative and positive aspects of the right to equality, freedom of speech, judicial review, and constitutionalism. He holds the Landecker-Ferencz chair in the study of Protection of Minorities and Vulnerable Groups at the faculty of law of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has served as Dean of the Law Faculty (2009-2012), and as the Rector (Provost) of the Hebrew University (2017-2022). He is a graduate of Tel-Aviv University (LLB, BA and MA in economics), Harvard Law School (LLM), and the Hebrew University (PhD in economics), and served as a Visiting Professor at the Law Schools of Columbia University in New-York and University of California Berkeley.

Prof. Lee Epstein is a legal scholar interested in legal institutions. She teaches courses on judicial behavior, free speech (in partnership with Chancellor Martin at WashU), and the US Supreme Court. She is the Ethan A.H. Shepley distinguished university professor at Washington University in St. Louis. Professor Epstein is an elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Academy of Political and Social Science. In addition to her position at WashU, she holds Distinguished Visiting Professorships at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and at the University of Southern California, where she was previously the Hilliard Distinguished Professor of Law.

Find more JIMES events at https://jimes.wustl.edu/events.    

Those with specific inquiries about the Stern lecture series and coming JIMES events can contact Dr. Jonathan Judaken, Chair of JIMES and Goldstein Professor of Jewish History and Thought at Washington University in St. Louis: judaken@wustl.edu 