Greg Lukianoff, bestselling author and CEO of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), will present “The Threat to Free Speech on Campus and What to Do About It” at Northern Michigan University. The event begins at 7 p.m. Monday, April 22, in 1100 Jamrich Hall. A Q&A session is slated to follow the presentation. Admission is free and is open to the public.
First Amendment expert Lukianoff is co-author (with social psychologist Jonathan Haidt) of The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are Setting Up a Generation for Failure. The book was named one of the best of 2018 by The New York Times, Bloomberg, The London Evening Standard and other publications.
According to the book's description, the co-authors “show how the new problems on campus have their origins in three terrible ideas that have become increasingly woven into American childhood and education: What doesn't kill you makes you weaker; always trust your feelings; and life is a battle between good people and evil people. These three Great Untruths contradict basic psychological principles about well-being and ancient wisdom from many cultures. Embracing these untruths—and the resulting culture of safetyism—interferes with young people's social, emotional, and intellectual development. It makes it harder for them to become autonomous adults who are able to navigate the bumpy road of life.”
Lukianoff is a graduate of both American University and Stanford Law School. He previously served as FIRE's first director of legal and public advocacy until he was appointed president/CEO in 2006. Lukianoff has published articles in the Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Atlantic, Inside Higher Ed and the New York Post.
The NMU Center for Academic and Intellectual Freedom is hosting this event, with grant support from the Institute for Humane Studies (IHS) at George Mason University.