Office of Equity and Inclusion present s
Fall Symposium 2025
The Role of Academic Freedom in a Democratic Society
Thursday, November 6, 2025
9:40 a.m. to 4:35 p.m.
Leo A. Guthart Cultural Center Theater, Axinn Library
First Floor, South Campus, Hofstra University (unless otherwise noted)
9:40 to 11:05 a.m.
Unequal Measures: Research Integrity in Times of Turmoil
PANELISTS: Lisa DeTora, Emma C. Farmer, and Martine Hackett
This panel considers the perils and possible practices of research integrity while addressing crucial questions regarding personal and environmental health and well-being during inhospitable times. Faculty explore the difficulties (and even dangers) inherent in discussing topics that are being increasingly ignored, minimized, or actively silenced.
11:20 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.
Academic Freedom and Political Activism on Campus
PANELISTS: Carolyn Eisenberg, Alan Singer, and students Maisa Ahmad, Django Buenz, Alisha Paracha
This panel discusses the dynamic relationship between academic freedom and political activism on campus and what it means for teaching, learning, and student voices today.
1 to 2:25 p.m.
Truth on Trial: Free Speech, Media, and the Expanding Boundaries of Government Overreach
PANELISTS: Russell Chun, Brian McFadden, Tomeka Robinson, Jingsi Christina Wu, and student Cassandra Rogers
Join communication and media experts along with a rising voice from the next generation for a powerful conversation on the growing threats to free speech and media freedom in the U.S. and around the world.
1 to 2:25 p.m.
Conflicted Identities in a Democratic Classroom: Graduate Students’ Art-Based Reflections on Academic Freedom in Art Therapy
PANELISTS: Sojung Park, and students Dina Jalilzadeh, Indeaki Rune, Yidi Wang, Xuelun Yu
This panel brings together art therapy graduate students to explore how academic freedom is lived, contested, and reimagined within the context of a democratic classroom.
Location: Room 246 Axinn Library
2:40 to 4:35 p.m.
Philosophical Challenges and Defenses of Academic Freedom in a Democratic Society
PANELISTS: Amy Baehr, Massoud Fazeli, Warren G. Frisina, and Tomeka Robinson
Faculty explore what academic freedom means, why it is vital to a democratic society, and how it is defended against common criticisms. c