Harvard Club of Central Florida

Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America, will discuss her new book Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All, which has become extremely timely as we grapple with a resurgent reckoning over racism.  The book, which draws heavily on Nossel's work at PEN America, deals in depth with call outs, cancel culture, cultural appropriation, online content moderation, how to address hateful speech, and why we need to do more to amplify lesser heard voices.  Nossel sets out principles for how we can live together in our diverse, digitized and divided society without resorting to either formal or informal curbs on free speech. She argues that the drive to realize a more equal, inclusive and just society can - and must - be reconciled with robust protections for free speech.
 

Wednesday, January 13, 2021

6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
(Zoom information will be sent in advance)
 

Suzanne's book centers on 20 principles for how to live together in our diverse, digitized and divided society without curbing free speech.   She deals with cancel culture, call outs, "no platforming" debates, safe spaces, tensions between free speech and the fight for racial justice, online harassment and disinformation, censorship, and the politicization of free speech.  She has an exceptional array of blurbers including Margaret Atwood, Hillary Clinton, Henry Louis Gates and renowned First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams.  As the LA Times Sewell Chan has said, "If everyone in America read it, we’d be so much better off." She takes on many issues in her book Dare to Speak that will interest the Harvard community, including the resignation of President Lawrence Summers after making remarks that questioned the capabilities of women in math and science and of Winthrop House master Ronald Sullivan after joining Harvey Weinstein's defense team. 
 

The book has sparked widespread discussion and debate including in the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Slate, Literary Hub, Good Morning America, and numerous podcasts and radio shows.  She has also had a highly successful national book tour including appearances at the New York Public Library, LA Talks Live, the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco, Los Angeles Review of Books, Seattle Town Hall, the Pasadena Literary Alliance, Politics and Prose, Powell's Books Washington Post Live and other venues.  She recently had a successful virtual event at Harvard Club of Philadelphia and also spoke with Harvard Law Prof Randall Kennedy for a scintillating discussion hosted by the National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta. 
 

The event is FREE to attend, but you must register to receive Zoom instructions.
 

About Suzanne:
Her full bio is here.
Suzanne Nossel is Chief Executive Officer at PEN America and author of Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All. Prior to joining PEN America, she served as the Chief Operating Officer of Human Rights Watch and as Executive Director of Amnesty International USA. She has served in the Obama Administration as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations, leading US engagement in the UN and multilateral institutions on human right issues, and in the Clinton Administration as Deputy to the US Ambassador for UN Management and Reform. Nossel coined the term “Smart Power,” which was the title of a 2004 article she published in Foreign Affairs Magazine and later became the theme of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s tenure in office. She is a featured columnist for Foreign Policy magazine and has published op-eds in The New York Times, Washington Post, and LA Times, as well as scholarly articles in Foreign Affairs, Dissent, and Democracy, among others. Nossel serves on the Board of Directors of the Tides Foundation. She is a former senior fellow at the Century Foundation, the Center for American Progress, and the Council on Foreign Relations. Nossel is a magna cum laude graduate of both Harvard College and Harvard Law School.

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