Tuesday, October 7, 2025
6:00 pm – 7:00 pm EDT
Charles P. Stevenson Jr. Library
1 Library Road
Annandale-on-Hudson, New York 12504
Libraries at Bard College and Center for Civic Engagement Present
In the News: The Battle for Free Speech
A conversation with Peter B. Kaufman, associate director of development at MIT Open Learning, and Dinaw Mengestu, director of the Written Arts Program.
From social media to legislative battles to late night TV, the concept of free expression is under assault. This conversation explores the foundational importance of free speech in a democratic society and discusses the impact of increasing political and social polarization on open dialogue. Moderated by Grace Vining ‘26.
Peter B. Kaufman is Associate Director of Development at MIT Open Learning. He is an educator, publisher, and documentary film producer, and the author of The New Enlightenment and the Fight to Free Knowledge (Seven Stories Press, 2021) and The Moving Image: A User’s Manual (The MIT Press, 2025).
Dinaw Mengestu is Bard's John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Professor of the Humanities and Director of the Written Arts Program. He is the author of three novels, all of which were named New York Times Notable Books: All Our Names (Knopf, 2014), How To Read the Air (Riverhead, 2010), and The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears (Riverhead, 2007). A native of Ethiopia who came with his family to the United States at the age of two, Mengestu is also a freelance journalist who has reported about life in Darfur, northern Uganda, and eastern Congo.
For more information, call 845-758-6822, or e-mail amurphy@bard.edu.
Time: 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm EDT/GMT-4
Location: Charles P. Stevenson Jr. Library