Freedom of Expression in the Age of Disinformation
Click here to read an article about the Symposium.
Thursday, Dec 7, 2024:
3pm Welcome
CALS Dean Ben Houlton
160 Mann Library, Cornell University
3:15pm Plenary Speaker, Dr. Claire Wardle, Brown University
160 Mann Library, Cornell University
4pm Exhibition & Reception
Remarks from Elaine Westbrooks, Cornell University Librarian
Communication Hub, 4th Floor, Mann Library, Cornell University
Friday, Dec 8:
8:30 Breakfast
160 Mann Library, Cornell University
9am Panel on Historical Media Propaganda, Disinformation, and Freedom of Expression
Chair: Lee Humphreys, Cornell COMM
Panelists: Caroline Jack (UCSD), CW Anderson (U of Milan), Dave Park (Lake Forest College), Ashley Shea (Cornell, Mann Library)
160 Mann Library, Cornell University
10:30am Break
11am Panel on Freedom of Expression vs Content Moderation on Social Media Platforms
Chair: Drew Margolin (Cornell COMM)
Panelists: Tarleton Gillespie (Microsoft Research), Nathan Matias (Cornell COMM), Brooke Duffy (Cornell COMM), James Grimmelman (Cornell Tech)
160 Mann Library, Cornell University
12:30pm Lunch
Communication Hub, 4th floor, Mann Library, Cornell University
1:30pm Panel on Public Opinion as a Form of Freedom of Expression in Democracies
Chair: Jon Schuldt (Cornell COMM)
Panelists: Shannon McGregor (UNC, Chapel Hill), Bryn Rosenfeld (Cornell Gov), Peter Enns (Cornell Brooks/Gov), Poppy McLeod (Cornell COMM), Monica Cornejo (Cornell COMM)
160 Mann Library, Cornell University
3:00pm Break
3:30pm Panel on Freedom of Expression and Other Core Values and Responsibilities
Chair: Jeff Niederdeppe (Cornell COMM)
Panelists: Srivi Ramasubramanian (Syracuse U) Local: Neil Lewis Jr. (Cornell COMM), Bruce Lewenstein (Cornell COMM/Ombuds), Dominic Balog-Way (Cornell COMM)
160 Mann Library, Cornell University
5-6pm Closing Reception
Communication Hub, 4th floor, Mann Library, Cornell University
Remarks from President Martha Pollack
The symposium was co-sponsored by Cornell University, Cornell’s Department of Communication, the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research and the College of Agriculture and Life Science.
Symposium Organizers:
Lee Humphreys, Professor and Chair, Comm
Jeff Niederdeppe, Professor, Comm & Senior Associate Dean, Brooks
Jon Schuldt, Associate Professor, Comm & Director of Roper Center
Symposium Background:
Cornell’s Department of Communication is excited to participate in the University’s Freedom of Expression theme year in the 2023-24 academic year. The Department of Communication’s mission at Cornell is to “enhance understanding of communication processes, institutions, systems and practices, inform and educate a wide range of constituencies, and foster communication competencies, all in service to ethical public discourse in a civil society committed to positive social change.” Like many communication programs throughout the United States that came of age in response to societal concerns about propaganda and mass media during World War II, the Department of Communication studies the ongoing ways that free and open communication is enhanced, complicated, or threatened by powerful institutions and technological advancements. Freedom of expression is a vital component of the communication processes and institutions fundamental to a working democracy in the United States and beyond. Freedom of expression is not absolute, however, but set by legal precedent as well as influenced by societal, organizational, and journalistic values and norms.
To contribute to the university initiative, we are holding a symposium on Freedom of Expression in the Age of Disinformation. The event brings together scholars and researchers to explore the opportunities and challenges of open and ethical communication posed by the current technologically mediated systems of communication and the broader socio-political climate.
Freedom of Expression in the Archives
In addition to the symposium, during the Fall 2023 semester the Communication Department has been also collaborating with Mann library on an undergraduate student research project and exhibit to explore “Freedom of Expression in the Cornell Archives”. As part of this project, students enrolled in an independent study with Professor Lee Humphreys and Mann Librarian, Ashley Shea (and current Communication PhD student). This one-credit course was designed to allow students to develop their own archival research projects related to freedom of expression and end with a public exhibit of their projects as part of the symposium.
Student Research Project Learning Outcomes:
1. Students will learn how to conduct archival research using university resources
2. Students will be able to explain how economic, cultural, and political factors influence the production and preservation of information, and marginalize the perspectives, histories, and research of certain communities.
3. Students will be able to describe the strengths, limitations, and biases of archival information and be able to select materials most suitable for their question or need.
4. Students will learn about various aspects of how tensions surrounding the freedom of expression have manifested at Cornell at various points in our university’s history.