The Center for the Philosophy of Freedom hosted its First Conference on Academic Freedom on September 19–20, 2025, bringing leading national scholars, the U of A campus community and the Tucson community together for two days of thoughtful discussion and debate.
The event, held at the Student Union Memorial Center and livestreamed for those outside of Tucson, explored pressing questions about academic freedom, free expression, and civic responsibility at a moment when such issues feel more necessary than ever before.
In her opening remarks at the conference Mary Rigdon, Freedom Center Director and Associate Professor of Political Economy and Moral Science, shared an email she received from a student in her Experimental Political Economy class. The student wrote, “…too often I find myself sitting silently when I do not agree with the majority opinion in the room in fear of backlash from my peers, and as of recently, my professors.” Dr. Rigdon continued, sharing that the student offered thanks to Rigdon in her position as a faculty-member who makes a point to have inclusive and open discussion in the classroom. Then she said the student ended saying “Thank you not only for what you said in class on Thursday, but also for your work as a director at the Center for the Philosophy of Freedom, where you honor the value found in people’s right to constructively disagree.”
Dr. Rigdon emphasized what the student stated, saying, “I could not have said it better. At the Freedom Center, we honor the right to disagree—with reasons and arguments, listening to rather than dismissing others, especially when we disagree with their views; even more so when we despise those views. For none should ever be silenced, not in the classroom, by peer or expert pressure, or in the public arena, by violence or coercive interventions. Never.”
Conference Themes & Highlights
Sessions examined what academic freedom means in teaching, research, and campus life, as well as the responsibilities public universities carry in supporting and protecting free inquiry.
Speakers
- Jason Brennan (Georgetown University): Yes, Even Racism
- Jane Bambauer (University of Florida): Academic Integrity and the Role of the State
- Sam Berstler (MIT): The Cult of Authenticity as a Barrier to Free Expression
- Daniel Jacobson (University of Colorado, Boulder): A Defense of Affirmative Action for Conservatives
- J.P. Messina (Purdue University): Public Universities and Liberal Neutrality
- Delaney Verjinski (University of South Alabama): Academic Neurorights: Cognitive Liberty as the Foundation of Academic Freedom
- Steve Wall (University of Arizona): Communities of Judgment, Free Expression and Viewpoint Neutrality
Each talk was followed by a lively Q&A, underscoring the conference’s emphasis on civil discourse and community participation. The conference continued on the second day with the remaining speakers from around the country.
Dr. Saura Masconale, Freedom Center Associate Director, assistant professor of political economy and moral science, James E. Rogers College of Law affiliated faculty, introduced the first speaker on the second day saying, “I am proud to stand here today as part of a community of scholars – colleagues at Arizona and beyond – united by a commitment to critically inquire into the nature and causes of freedom—understood as a capacious and contested ideal in social, economic, political, and academic life. We do this through rigorous scholarship and meaningful public engagement. This is our mission at the Freedom Center—and I believe it is more important, more relevant, and frankly more vital than ever today.”
Organizers Dr. Rishi Joshi and Dr. Mary Rigdon, plan to continue hosting this conference moving forward.
