Thursday 30 June – Saturday 2 July
Central London
Are you keen to defend free speech? To challenge Big Tech and the growth of online censorship? Want to understand historic ideals of tolerance and moral autonomy? Do you have concerns about attacks on civil liberties or artists being cancelled for their views? Are you interested in exploring the arguments for and against single-sex spaces in an open and tolerant way? Then Living Freedom is for you.
OVERVIEW
Living Freedom is the annual residential school aimed at anyone aged 18 to 30 that is interested in exploring and debating ideas and issues related to freedom.
Inaugurated in 2017 and run by Battle of Ideas, an educational and citizenship charity, Living Freedom is a school for young enthusiasts for freedom who are keen to get to grips with historical ideas and contemporary ideals. Since 2021, Living Freedom has been supported by Free Speech Champions, a network of young people dedicated to creating a space to think freely and question everything.
This year, the three-day school takes place in central London and is open to those living in the UK and beyond. The school provides a stimulating forum for around 60 young advocates of freedom who will attend expert talks, hear from writers, critics and campaigners, and participate in debates, seminars and workshops. You will also meet and socialise with your peers.
At Living Freedom school, you will get to grips with the best that has been said and written over the centuries and important contemporary issues. Our expert thinkers and campaigners will help you explore the value of free speech and other freedoms today.
OUTLINE PROGRAMME
For full details of the individual sessions, click here.
THURSDAY 30 JUNE
18:30 – 20:00 OPENING LECTURE
Past, present, future: freedom and the revenge of History
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FRIDAY 1 JULY
09:00 – 10:00 LECTURE
War on words: George Orwell and the battle over language
10:30 – 11:45 SHORT TALKS
Conversion controversies: Conversion Therapy Bill and implications for freedom
12:00 – 13:00 SHORT TALKS FOLLOWED BY GROUP SEMINARS
REVISITING CLASSICS OPTION 1: Vasily Grossman – Life and Fate
REVISITING CLASSICS OPTION 2: The Classical Era – Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven
LUNCH
14:00 – 15:00 LECTURE ON LIBERTY
Sexual freedom today
15:15 – 16:15 FREE SPEECH IN ACTION 1
OPTION 1. Fighting for Free Speech in Universities: why, what, how?
OPTION 2. Activism dilemmas: campaigners in conversation
16:30 – 17:30 SHORT TALKS
Is ‘cancel culture’ killing literature?
17:45 – 19:00 PANEL DISCUSSION
Big Tech and online censorship: how can we solve a problem like misinformation?
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SATURDAY 2 JULY
09:30 – 10:30 LECTURE
A Lecture Concerning Toleration
11:00 – 12:00 LECTURE
Sovereignty after covid
LUNCH
13:00-14:15 WORKSHOPS
What the papers say
14:30 – 15:30 FREE SPEECH IN ACTION 2
OPTION 1. Fighting for freedom: winning the arguments in the public square
OPTION 2. Activism dilemmas: When is a demo a threat to freedom?
16:00- 17:00 LECTURE
Can duty set us free?
17:30 – 18:45 PANEL DEBATE
Can the Bill of Rights save free speech?
Enquiries
Should you need further information, please email the Living Freedom convenor, Alastair Donald, at info@livingfreedom.org.uk or call +44 (0)20 7269 9233.
Living Freedom is devised and produced by Battle of Ideas (boi)
in association with Free Speech Champions.