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Oceania Cruises Announces 2026 World Voyages Aboard Vista – Porthole Cruise and Travel

Oceania Cruises is launching its newest ship,Vista,for a 180-day Around the World voyage in 2026. This voyage will visit 101 ports across 43 countries, setting a new standard for global exploration. Bookings will officially open on March 13, 2024!

After the remarkable success of our most recent world cruises, we have been eagerly anticipating the opportunity to present travelers with an even more extraordinary experience for our 2026 voyage, said Frank A. Del Rio, President of Oceania Cruises. With that, we are excited to announce thatVista, Oceania Cruises pinnacle of luxury and newest ship, will circumnavigate the globe artfully intertwining diverse continents, enriching cultures, and mouthwatering cuisines, creating an unforgettable tapestry of exploration for our guests. With this new voyage, we are excited to offer a rare chance to experience the world from an entirely new perspective and further forward the future of global cruising.

Vistawill depart from Miami on January 6, crossing three oceans and 18 seas to explore Southeast Asia, Australia, the South Pacific, Europe, and South America. The journey will include exploring continental coastlines, experiencing local cultures, trying new foods, and discovering natural wonders in off-the-beaten-path locations and popular cities.

Vistaoffers 11 onboard culinary venues, including the new Aquamar Kitchen, The Bakery at Baristas, and Ember. The ship, at 791 feet long and over 67,000 tons, maintains a high staffing ratio. Guests will enjoy gourmet experiences curated by Oceania Cruises Master Chefs of France, Alexis Quaretti and Eric Barale and opportunities for Culinary Discovery Tours and cooking classes. Vista provides a variety of onboard activities, such as bars, lounges, and entertainment venues like the Founders Bar, Aquamar Spa + Vitality Center, and Aquamar Spa Terrace.

The World Odyssey and Global Wanderlust voyages are available in addition to the 180-day Around the World cruise onVista. These cruises provide flexibility with a 120-day voyage from San Diego to Miami and a 197-day cruise from Los Angeles to Miami. Vistas luxurious ambiance and spacious staterooms offer guests a comfortable home at sea to relax and rejuvenate during their journey.

Head to their website for more information on Oceania Cruises 2026 Around the World journeys!

Oceania Cruises provides simply MORE, which includes all-inclusive features in the voyage fare, such as free roundtrip airfare, airport transfers, a shore excursion credit of up to $1,400 per stateroom, and a beverage package available during lunch and dinner.

Will you be sailing around the world with Oceania Cruises? Let us know in the comments!

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Oceania Cruises Announces 2026 World Voyages Aboard Vista - Porthole Cruise and Travel

Oceania Cruises Announces 2026 Around the World Voyage Aboard Its Newest Ship, Vista – PR Newswire

Set sail on an epic 180-day world journey across six continents visiting 43 countries, 101 ports and 81 UNESCO World Heritage sites

MIAMI, March 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Opening up the world to a new era of global exploration,Oceania Cruises, the world's leading culinary- and destination-focused cruise line, welcomes guests on board its newest ship, Vista, for its highly anticipated inaugural 180-day 2026 Around the World voyage. Having set the standard for extraordinary sailings for over a decade with destination-immersive global journeys, Oceania Cruises sets a new bar with unparalleled comfort and convenience, electing Vista to host this year's circumnavigation visiting 101 ports across 43 countries. Now open for preview, bookings for this unique, all-encompassing journey officially open on March 13, 2024.

Setting sail from Miami on January 6, the boutique 1,200-guest vessel will cross three oceans and 18 seas, exploring the jewels of Southeast Asia and Australia, island-hopping in the South Pacific, calling on unique ports in Europe, and exploring favorite South American cities. Fully charting entire continental coastlines, the journey features both off-the-beaten-path secrets and impressive cities embracing cultural immersions, epicurean discoveries and breathtaking natural wonders.

"After the remarkable success of our most recent world cruises, we have been eagerly anticipating the opportunity to present travelers with an even more extraordinary experience for our 2026 voyage," remarked Frank A. Del Rio, President of Oceania Cruises. "With that, we are excited to announce that Vista, Oceania Cruises' pinnacle of luxury and newest ship, will circumnavigate the globe artfully intertwining diverse continents, enriching cultures, and mouthwatering cuisines, creating an unforgettable tapestry of exploration for our guests. With this new voyage, we are excited to offer a rare chance to experience the world from an entirely new perspective and further forward the future of global cruising."

Around the World in 180 Days

The 2026 Around the World journey weaves together a lineup of destinations into a brilliant kaleidoscope of world wonders, marvelous attractions, and exceptional encounters. Vista will start its six-month sojourn with a sweeping six-week exploration of South America, fully charting the continent's western coast before continuing to Mexico and California, and then will island-hop in the dazzling South Pacific and call on unique Australian ports such as the Whitsunday Islands. Farther west, off-the-beaten-path secrets will come to life in Southeast Asia and across India. Toward the end of the voyage, Vista will call into enchanting coastal villages and iconic cities throughout the Mediterranean, British Isles and Nordic region before crossing back over to the United States.

Continuing to elevate The Finest Cuisine at Sea, Vista features 11 onboard culinary venues including the lines' newest additions: Aquamar Kitchen, offering an array of wellness-inspired dishes with a hint of indulgence; The Bakery at Baristas, serving tempting freshly baked pastries; and new signature restaurant, Ember. At 791 feet (241 meters) long and more than 67,000 tons, Vista offers a market-leading staffing ratio with two crew members for every three guests. On board, culinary aficionados will delight in the gourmet experiences curated by Oceania Cruises' two resident Master Chefs of France, Alexis Quaretti and Eric Barale. From immersive Culinary Discovery Tours ashore to hands-on cooking classes back on board, guests will have the opportunity to savor the flavors of cultures from around the world alongside Director of Culinary Enrichment Kathryn Kelly, an Oceania Cruises Around the World first. Vista additionally offers an elevated variety of onboard activities including eight bars, lounges and entertainment venues, including the new Founders Bar, the luxurious Aquamar Spa + Vitality Center and Aquamar Spa Terrace.

This epic voyage features over 80 UNESCO World Heritage sites across 101 destinations, with 11 overnight stays and a series of curated complimentary special onshore events and optional multi-day overland programs. Starting at $59,699 per person for the French Veranda Stateroom category, the 180-day world cruise boasts free first-class roundtrip airfare and transfers, an array of included amenities with the Exclusive Prestige Package such as free laundry services, a free visa package, free Internet, free pre-paid gratuities, free luggage delivery, as well as inclusive simply MORE amenities including a generous shore excursion credit of $8,800 per stateroom and a comprehensive beverage package available during lunch and dinner.

World Odyssey and Global Wanderlust Voyages

In addition to Vista's Around the World in 180 days cruise, Oceania Cruises is offering more flexibility than ever by offering Global Wanderlust, a 120-day voyage from San Diego to Miami, as well as World Odyssey, a 197-day cruise from Los Angeles to Miami. While the global destinations are naturally the star attraction on this journey, the luxurious ambiance of Vista welcomes guests to the ultimate home at sea. With staterooms among the most spacious ever to be offered on a world journey, Oceania Cruises provides the space for a ritual of rejuvenation before exploring each day.

A detailed brochure for Oceania Cruises' 2026 Around the World journeys may be found here. For additional information on Oceania Cruises' small-ship luxury product, exquisitely crafted cuisine, and expertly curated travel experiences, visit OceaniaCruises.com, call 855-OCEANIA, or speak with a professional travel advisor.

About simply MOREOceania Cruises offers travelers simply MORE, with virtually everything included in the voyage fare: free roundtrip airfare; free airport transfers; a generous shore excursion credit of up to $1,400 per stateroom to be spent on tours of their choice; and a comprehensive beverage package available during lunch and dinner at onboard restaurants featuring dozens of vintage Champagnes, premium wines and international beers. Created to elevate the guest experience, simply MORE means travelers receive the greatest value in luxury cruising.

About Oceania CruisesOceania Cruises is the world's leading culinary- and destination-focused cruise line. The line's eight small, luxurious ships carry a maximum of 1,250 guests and feature The Finest Cuisine at Sea and destination-rich itineraries that span the globe. Expertly curated travel experiences are available aboard the designer-inspired, small ships, which call on more than 600 marquee and boutique ports in more than 100 countries on seven continents, on voyages that range from seven to more than 200 days. Oceania Cruises is a wholly owned subsidiary of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: NCLH). To learn more, visitOceaniaCruises.com.

SOURCE Oceania Cruises

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Oceania Cruises Announces 2026 Around the World Voyage Aboard Its Newest Ship, Vista - PR Newswire

The Oceania Vista will sail the world in 2026 – Travel Weekly

Oceania's newest ship, the Oceania Vista, will sail its first world cruise in 2026, roundtrip out of Miami.

The Vista's 180-day Around the World cruise will visit 101 ports across 43 countries. Bookings open on March 13.

The Vista, which debuted in May of 2023, served as the swan song of the line's founder and now-retired CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, Frank Del Rio. He retired shortly after the Vista set sail for the first time in the Med.

Related: First Call aboard the Oceania Vista

The cruise will feature more than 80 Unesco World Heritage sites; 11 overnight stays; complimentary, curated special events onshore; and optional multiday overland programs.

The Vista will depart from Miami on Jan. 6, 2026, to sail the eastern coast of South America and return north along its western coast up to Mexico and California. The ship will reach as far north as San Diego before crossing the Pacific to French Polynesia and Australia, continuing on to Southeast Asia and India.

Related: The new era of world cruising

Current plans also have the Vista passing through the Red Sea and Suez Canal to reach the Mediterranean, British Isles and Nordic region before returning to Miami along the U.S. East Coast.

The itinerary assumes the Red Sea will be safe for cruise traffic; attacks on shipping vessels by Houthi militants in Yemen that began late last year have led multiple cruise lines and shipping companies to avoid the region.

Guests will have the option to sail a shorter, 120-day cruise from San Diego to Miami or a longer, 197-day cruise from Los Angeles to Miami.

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The Oceania Vista will sail the world in 2026 - Travel Weekly

Oceania Announces 2026 Around the World Voyage Aboard Vista – Cruise Industry News

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Oceania Announces 2026 Around the World Voyage Aboard Vista - Cruise Industry News

Oceania appoints Pitchblack Partners as lead strategic and creative agency – Campaign Brief NZ

March 6 2024, 5:32 pm | BY Ricki Green | No Comments Following a competitive pitch process lead by consultant Jodi Williams, Pitchblack Partners has been appointed as Oceanias lead strategic, creative and production partner along with its sister production company Jetblack.

Says Josh Moore, principal partner, Pitchblack Partners: To be appointed by the Oceania team is a real privilege and opportunity. With a focus on reinvention of retirement living and aged care through innovation, Oceania is the most exciting brand in the category. Were all going to be older one day and to know that we can have a hand in helping our parents generation and then in turn our generation, and the next, enjoy all our days on the planet is genuinely fulfilling.

Says Sandra Daniel, GM marketing and communications, Oceania: Josh, Jono and the team at Pitchblack showed they have a real passion for our category and a clear understanding of where they want to take our brand. They already feel like they are an extension of our team which is important as we have big ambitions for 2024 and beyond.

Says Anita Hawthorne, group general manager sales and services, Oceania: Ive been impressed with the thinking I have seen from the Pitchblack Partners already and Im excited to be working with an independent agency that clearly has a real interest in improving the life of Kiwis and their families as they age.

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Oceania appoints Pitchblack Partners as lead strategic and creative agency - Campaign Brief NZ

Investment starting to pay returns for women’s football in Oceania nations – Friends of Football

Efforts to help improve womens football in the Oceania region are bearing fruit, say football leaders.

FIFA Chief Womens Football Officer and former Samoa international Dame Sarai Bareman says the shining example was the 2023 FIFA Womens World Cup, co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia.

Its clear that the impact stretched far beyond the two hosts and into the wider Oceania region, she said.

FIFAs provision of a range of on and off-field development activities in recent years has helped fast-track growth, and led to more examples of progress at OFC Womens Olympic Qualifier tournament in Samoa.

From infrastructure upgrades notably at the hosts Football Federation Samoa Football Stadium to the provision of high-performance coaches, and financial packages supporting the national teams, the support has been broad and wide-ranging.

Main photo: Solomon Islands Ileen Pegi was one of the emerging players at the OFC Womens Olympic Qualifier Tournament in Samoa. Photo: Shane Wenzlick / Phototek.

Dame Sarai said it was pleasing to see so many competitive matches and such a lift in the quality of football at the tournament.

Its a testament to the hard work that is being done by OFC and its member associations.

Major competitions play such a crucial role in the growth of womens football. Last year, we saw Papua New Guinea come so close to qualifying for the FIFA Womens World Cup.

The levelling of competition across the confederation reflects the commitment to improvement from both the world governing body and the respective member associations.

FIFA has delivered 77 programmes to Oceanian nations since first launching the Womens Development Programmes in the region.

Notably, FIFA launched a pilot programme to help Pacific national teams prepare for the OFC Womens Nation Cup 2022.

This turned into a fully-fledged programme that supported a range of identified nations to prepare for the 2023 FIFA Womens World Cup.

Samoa, for instance, is enjoying a significant period of growth.

In February 2024, experienced administrator Ronna Lee Galumalemana became the new CEO at Football Federation Samoa (FFS), one of the few women to lead a member association in the region.

FFS President Sam Petaia says FIFA has invested more than USD$5 million for infrastructure in the past few years. Such investment has allowed FFS to host several OFC tournaments over the coming year.

Apia Park will be the main FFS administrative headquarters, while the existing Tuanaimato facility will be developed into a high-performance centre.

As part of FIFA 3.0 the academy will be developed with a gym, training pitches and player accommodation, sports science and anti-doping being housed on the site.

FIFA, through their infrastructure assistance, have given us a platform, that our Federation can challenge rugby, Petaia said.

Its about giving opportunities to kids. [Football is] the most well-funded, and the most popular grassroots programme in the country. But when they transition from primary school to secondary school, that is when we tend to lose a lot of the football players to rugby.

We have systems in place that we will make sure we try to hold onto our players, so they know theres something for them when they leave primary school. So its about us building programmes we can sustain. In five to 10 years look out, that landscape can change.

FFS Technical Director Ravinesh Kumar said: I think the FIFA Womens World Cup had a great impact on the young people, young girls as well.

We had our holiday programmes in December and we could clearly see that there is a link, between the FIFA Womens World Cup brought to Oceania and the interest it creates in our local kids. And now the Olympic qualifiers have backed up that interest, in our girls especially.

We could see a lot of girls have come in to watch the Olympic qualifiers.

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Investment starting to pay returns for women's football in Oceania nations - Friends of Football

BRING ME THE HORIZON’s ‘Post Human: Nex Gen’ Album Is ‘Nearly Finished’ – BLABBERMOUTH.NET

On the red carpet of the 2024 BRIT Awards at London's O2 Arena on Saturday (March 2),BRING ME THE HORIZON singer Oli Sykes and drummer Mat Nicholls spoke to NME about the status of the band's long-awaited new album, "Post Human: Nex Gen". The LP was originally due last September, but was pushed back due to "unforeseen circumstances", with Sykes and the rest of BRING ME THE HORIZON "unable to complete the record to the standard we'd be happy with".

"It's nearly finished, but it's not finished yet," Oli told NME earlier today. Mat concurred, saying: "It's not quite finished, but it's closer than it has ever been. We came back off tour and built a studio in Sheffield and, yeah, just cracked on, got our heads down and everyone pulled together. And, yeah, we're getting there. It's this close. [holds two fingers very near each other]"

When the interviewer noted that BRING ME THE HORIZON has been promising the new album "for a while", Oli said: "Every time we think we've got it, we get another song, and it's, like, 'Oh.' It's gonna be very good though. It's like the best album ever. So it'll be worth the wait."

Mat added: "It does sound really good, and we're really happy with it. It takes time, doesn't it? You can't rush these things."

In January, BRING ME THE HORIZON released a new song called "Kool-Aid". The track was the first to arrive following the departure of longtime keyboardist and percussionist Jordan Fish in December.

Earlier this week, BRING ME THE HORIZON teased "Kool-Aid" by sharing a brief snippet in an Instagram story. The band also revealed in an official newsletter that the song was "coming soon" and available to pre-save/pre-add for fans.

Fish joined BRING ME THE HORIZON in 2012 and appeared on the albums "Sempiternal", "That's The Spirit" and "Amo", which he helped write.

BRING ME THE HORIZON has been called one of the most forward-thinking metal bands in the world. As it has grown, BRING ME THE HORIZON has undergone a musical progression from its earliest days as a metalcore band, in large part because of the production talents of Fish.

Jordan had been a major influence on BRING ME THE HORIZON's sound, inspiring many of the edgy guitar riffs and other elements on the "Sempiternal" album. His music production fingerprints can be found all over "That's The Spirit", which offered a stylistic departure from the metalcore genre.

When BRING ME THE HORIZON announced Fish's departure, the band said in a statement: "BRING ME THE HORIZON has decided to part ways with Jordan Fish. We want to thank him for the musical journey he took with us and wish him luck with everything in the future. Meanwhile we continue to work on 'Nex Gen', with brand new music coming very soon."

Fish added in a separate statement: "I'm really grateful for my 11 years with the band, and extremely proud of all that we have achieved together. I look forward to hearing what they do next, and wish them every success in the future. I'm excited to start this next chapter in my career."

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BRING ME THE HORIZON's 'Post Human: Nex Gen' Album Is 'Nearly Finished' - BLABBERMOUTH.NET

Hubble telescope exhibit gives hands-on experience – Coastal Review Online

A scale model of the Hubble Space Telescope and its contributions to the exploration of planets, stars, galaxies and the universe make up a hands-on experience on display through June 23 at Cape Fear Museum of History and Science in Wilmington.

Hubble Space Telescope: New Views of the Universe is a traveling exhibit through National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA. Hubble, a space-based observatory launched and deployed by the space shuttle Discovery in 1990, orbits 326 miles above the Earth, according to NASA.

The exhibit features the telescopes various instruments and the role that each one plays in providing new images and discoveries, and showcases Hubbles images and data of planets, galaxies, regions around black holes, and many other fascinating cosmic entities.

Visitors also get a glimpse of the various hurdles Hubble faced in its career and discover the role that astronauts played in repairing and servicing the observatory, and be introduced to the James Webb Space Telescope launched Dec. 25, 2021.

Cape Fear Museum at 814 Market St. is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday. Standard admission prices are $8 for adults; $7 for seniors, students and military with valid ID; $5 for children 6-17; and free for children 5 and under and for museum members.

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Hubble telescope exhibit gives hands-on experience - Coastal Review Online

PHOTO OF THE DAY: NASA’s Hubble Telescope Captures Spiral Galaxy’s Dazzling Swirls – SpaceCoastDaily.com

one of 19 nearby spiral galaxies recently imaged by the telescope NGC 4254, a spiral galaxy, is resplendent in orange and blue in this Jan. 29, 2024, image from the James Webb Space Telescope. (NASA image)

(NASA) NGC 4254, a spiral galaxy, is resplendent in orange and blue in this Jan. 29, 2024, image from the James Webb Space Telescope.

This is one of 19 nearby spiral galaxies recently imaged by the telescope as part of the long-standing Physics at High Angular Resolution in Nearby GalaxieS program supported by more than 150 astronomers worldwide.

Webbs Near-Infrared Camera captured millions of stars in these images, which sparkle in blue tones. At the same time, the telescopes Mid-Infrared Instrument data highlights glowing dust, showing us where it exists around and between stars.

Explore the intricacies of spiral galaxies in this deep dive.

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PHOTO OF THE DAY: NASA's Hubble Telescope Captures Spiral Galaxy's Dazzling Swirls - SpaceCoastDaily.com

NASA’s Hubble Telescope Captures "Last Gasp" Of Dying Binary Star System – NDTV

NGC 2346 resides in the constellation Monoceros, NASA said.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) regularly captures stunning images of our universe, leaving space lovers mesmerized. The social media handles of the US Space Agency are a treasure trove for those who love to watch educational videos and fascinating images showcasing Earth and space. Now, in its recent post, the agency's Hubble Space Telescope shared a picture of the "last gasp" of a dying binary star system.

"At the center of the nebula NGC 2346 is a pair of stars that are so close together that they orbit around each other every 16 days! This #HubbleClassic shows the "last gasp" of this binary star system as it dies. Located about 2,000 light-years away, NGC 2346 resides in the constellation Monoceros." NASA said while sharing the image.

It is to be noted that NGC 2346 is a so-called "planetary nebula," which is ejected from Sun-like stars which are near the ends of their lives.

The central star of NGC 2346 is believed to be a relatively near pair of stars that orbit each other every 16 days, which makes the galaxy unusual. It is thought that the binary star was initially farther apart. But one of the binary's components essentially swallowed its companion star as it developed, grew larger, and became a red-giant star.

Subsequently, the companion star spiralled downwards inside the red giant, releasing gas into a ring surrounding the binary system. Later, a faster stellar wind arose perpendicular to the ring and inflated two enormous "bubbles" when the red giant's hot core was revealed. "This two-stage process is believed to have resulted in the butterfly-like shape of the nebula. NGC 2346 lies about 2,000 light-years away from us, and is about one-third of a light-year in size," the European Space Agency explained.

In the image, a two-lobed structure of gas is seen expanding out from a central pinkish region. It almost resembles dark red and orange wings. The black background of the space is dotted with some small stars.

Since being shared, the post has amassed over 58,000 likes and several reactions on the platform.

"Lovely," said a user.

"Hubble is cool," stated another user.

A third user said, "The science is so amazing"

"Wow," remarked a person.

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NASA's Hubble Telescope Captures "Last Gasp" Of Dying Binary Star System - NDTV

Like a Face Drawn in Sand at the Edge of the Sea. Vicissitudes of the Posthuman Forty Years After Foucault’s Death … – Fabula, la recherche en…

WORKSHOP:

Like a Face Drawn in Sand at the Edge of the Sea. Vicissitudes of the Posthuman Forty Years After Foucaults Death.

May 30-31, 2024, Masaryk University, Room M117 Jotova 10, Brno, Czech Republic.

Does man really exist? To imagine, for an instant, what the world and thought and truth might be if man did not exist, is considered to be merely indulging in paradox. This is because we are so blinded by the recent manifestation of man that we can no longer remember a time and it is not so long ago when the world, its order, and human beings existed, but man did not.

M. Foucault, The Order of Things

Forty years after Foucault's death and sixty after the publication of An Archaeology of the Human Sciences, we would like to invite you to interrogate the posthuman as an open problem and process on the historical and epistemic level. In particular, we would like to discuss whether and how historiographical and methodological issues pertaining to the archeological project have been transformed, scaled down, transposed or partially resolved today.

The Order of Things wished to show the emergence and disappearance of the configurations of knowledge in their empirical arising. Among them, we see man taking his ambivalent place as both mysterious object and sovereign subject of western knowledge, only to soon disappear along the lines of the image we captured in the title. But, however deferred, historiographical and epistemological problems return incessantly, questioning the status of discontinuities in the archaeological project: what backdrop would be able to account for both the emerging and the fading away of orders of identities and differences? To what logic do their mutations respond? What explanation is offered?

According to the archaeological instance, posthuman is then manifestly not a condition of existence but an open process: the uncertain outcome of the mutations of these conditions of possibility, of their precipitation.

What does it mean to question this diagnostic today? What mutations have taken place or struggle to do so? What are the stakes? Would it be legitimate to say that today we speak from the space of knowledge left vacant by the disappearance of the figure of western knowledge that gave rise to the humanities?

The workshop's aim would be to draw a map, though bound to be partial, fragmentary and mobile, of a range of practices both in research and in applied fields related to the tools forged in the debate pertaining to posthumanism. This could be done, on the one hand, by exploring the current functioning of the toolbox elaborated by the thinker in the 1960s and early 1970s, and on the other hand, by interrogating the way in which these tools have been brought into contact and fruitful interaction with different theoretical inputs and epistemic and political instances (feminist, anti-racist, queer, post-colonial, ecological, a.o.).

We look forward to your contribution!

Please submit the title and abstract (no more than 500 words) of your contribution by March 24th, 2024, to https://emorob.fss.muni.cz/conferences/2024-foucault40 or by email to: Foucault40Brno@muni.cz

DEADLINE: March 24th

VENUE: May 30-31, 2024, Masaryk University, Room M117 Jotova 10, Brno, Czech Republic.

The workshop is supported by the project EMOROB (2023-2027) Robots, Computing the Human and Autism/ Cultural Imaginations of Autism Diagnosis and Emotion AI (EXPRO GAR_ 2023/23/GX23-05692X), FSS MU.

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Like a Face Drawn in Sand at the Edge of the Sea. Vicissitudes of the Posthuman Forty Years After Foucault's Death ... - Fabula, la recherche en...

As Odysseus lands on the moon, space exploration is having a moment – Newsday

Even admitting all the difficulty we humans have recognizing when something is having a moment, and acknowledging all the times we get it wrong, it sure does seem like space exploration is having a moment.

With rovers and landers on the moon and Mars, the James Webb telescope a million miles away broadcasting surreal images of deep space, and all sorts of plans from a variety of nations and companies in the offing, it certainly appears that a new space age is upon us.

The latest evidence, of course, is the landing on the moon of the American-built spacecraft known as Odysseus, even if Thursdays touchdown of the robotic lander came more than 50 years after the end of the still-astonishing chapter of humans walking on the moon. Odysseus is special because of its whats-next signification.

Technology has advanced far beyond those Apollo days, making this seemingly modest mission anything but that. The expectation is that Odysseus will lead to humans living on the moon and using its resources to jump-start transportation all around the solar system first Mars, and then beyond, to borrow from one intrepid animated astronaut.

Boosting the chances of this becoming real is the involvement of private business. Space is no longer the sole domain of government.

Odysseus was designed, built and operated by a private company, Houston-based Intuitive Machines, under a contract from NASA, and launched by a Falcon 9 rocket built by another private company, SpaceX. A bevy of other companies are also making rockets, landers and plans. You can see a competitive ecosystem developing around space exploration and cheer it for its possibilities while also being wary of its potential for commercial exploitation.

Even as we can be inspired about what Odysseus tells us about the future, there also is much to learn by taking a took at what led up to this moment.

Billions of dollars, for starters. Space exploration is expensive. But it also has brought big payoffs as much as tantalizing promises. Most obvious is how much more we know about our solar system and Earths place in it. But there is also a near-endless list of cool and indispensable things invented because of space program research like scratch-resistant lenses and CT scans, water purification systems and dust busters, home insulation and wireless headsets and the computer mouse.

This wont be the end of technologys evolution, either, which makes it exciting to think about what advances will follow as we push into our final frontier given everything thats happened to date.

But there is another lesson in the buildup to this latest mission that we need to learn. Achievement can be expensive but it also takes time. Overnight successes are rare and there seldom is an easy button in life.

Its no accident that this new lander was named Odysseus. Its namesake, the mythological Greek king, was part of the great victory in the Trojan War. But then he had to overcome a daunting series of obstacles and ordeals in his attempt to return home to Ithaca, a journey of about 550 nautical miles that took Odysseus 10 years to complete.

The result, we are meant to understand, is worth the effort.

We see it all the time. The writing of a book, the carving of a sculpture, the execution of a painting, the composition of a symphony, the filming of a movie, the education of a child, the building of a company, the forming of a family, the development of a leader, the living of a good life.

Greatness in whatever form is never dashed off. It is cultivated, and nurtured, and pursued, and if we keep going and if were lucky, achieved.

And so were back to the moon, and perhaps someday beyond.

Lets enjoy the moment, and the ride.

COLUMNIST MICHAEL DOBIES opinions are his own.

Michael Dobie is a member of the Newsday editorial board.

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As Odysseus lands on the moon, space exploration is having a moment - Newsday

As Space Exploration Expands, So Will Space Law – Science Friday

Credit: Shutterstock

Almost 70 years agoin the middle of the Cold Warthe United States and the Soviet Union kicked off the race to space, and that high-stakes sprint transformed humanitys relationship with space forever. Ultimately the USSR launched the first satellite, Sputnik, and the U.S. put the first humans on the moon.

Now were in a different space race. But this time, there are a lot more contenders. There are more satellites in orbit than ever before, NASA is trying to put humans on Mars, countries are still sending landers to the moon, and billionaires are using rockets as tourist vehicles. All this activity raises some serious questions: Who is in charge of space? And who makes the rules?

Journalist Khari Johnson explored these questions in a recent feature for Wired magazine, featuring experts at the forefront of these issues. Guest host Sophie Bushwick is joined by two of them: Dr. Timiebi Aganaba, assistant professor of space and society at Arizona State University, and Dr. Danielle Wood, assistant professor and director of the Space Enabled Research Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They discuss the role of space lawyers, what cases they may argue, and how the rules of spaceand the potential for conflictsare evolving.

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As Space Exploration Expands, So Will Space Law - Science Friday

Space exploration and colonisation: US, China, Russia and others | TheCable – TheCable

Space exploration is dynamic and developments have been ongoing over the years with several countries actively engaged in space exploration; and have demonstrated interest in the long-term goal of space colonization. Three prominent countries at the fore of space exploration and showing interest in colonization include the United States, China, and Russia.

The United States, NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), has played a lead role in space exploration since when it was established in 1958. They have a rich history of crewed space missions, which included the Apollo moon landings. In recent years, NASA has paid more attention to projects some of which are:

These are just a few, and NASA is working on various other scientific missions, technological advancements, and international collaborations. For the latest updates and detailed information, its recommended to visit NASAs official website and follow their press releases and mission updates.

Private Companies: SpaceX, or Space Exploration Technologies Corp., founded by Elon Musk in 2002, is a private aerospace manufacturer and space transportation company. They have been driving interesting activity in various space exploration initiatives. This is aimed at revolutionizing space travel and making it more accessible. Some space exploration activities and projects that SpaceX has been working on include:

Another country doing some work is China. China National Space Administration (CNSA) has been actively working on space exploration with some achievements under its belt. It is noteworthy to mention that the space industry is evolving rapidly. Here are some major areas of Chinas space exploration efforts:

Furthermore, the Russian Roscosmos has a long history in space exploration, with a rich history of achievements dating back to the era of the Soviet Union. Here are some major areas of Roscosmoss space exploration efforts:

Besides, several African countries have shown an increasing interest in space exploration and have taken steps to develop their space capabilities. It is important to say that Africas involvement in space activities varies among its countries. Here are some major aspects of space exploration in Africa:

While these examples demonstrate the progress made by some African countries in space exploration, it is important to recognize that the level of involvement varies across the continent, and yes more work can be done through private organizations active involvement. Collaboration and the sharing of resources and expertise have been major conversations in promoting Africas presence in space exploration. Continued efforts and investments are likely to shape Africas role in future space activities.

In conclusion, while space exploration has led to numerous benefits and advancements, some challenges need to be addressed, including cost, environmental impact, and ethical considerations. Continued international collaboration and responsible exploration practices are crucial for ensuring the sustainable development of space activities.

Thank you for the investment in time, and I am open to conversations on furthering these thoughts. To be notified each time I publish a new post, follow my Medium: https://medium.com/@roariyo and LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/olufemi-ariyo-923ba6130/ or send an email to [emailprotected]

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Space exploration and colonisation: US, China, Russia and others | TheCable - TheCable

Free Speech Unmuted: Book Bansor Are They? – Reason

You can watch on YouTube, or subscribe on any podcast platform. It's put together by the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, where I'll be starting as the Thomas M. Siebel Senior Fellow in May.

The first episode (about 30 minutes) is about the First Amendment and public school libraries' removing books. Jane and I had a lot of fun recording this; hope you have fun watching or listening to it! And of course please spread it far and wide.

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Free Speech Unmuted: Book Bansor Are They? - Reason

U.S. Supreme Court to hear Texas and Florida cases about free speech and social media platforms – Texas Standard

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments today in two cases related to some of the worlds biggest social media platforms.

Considered by many to be two of the hottest free speech cases of the internet age, one case is from Texas, the other from Florida. And though there are slight differences between the two state laws being challenged here, the cases appear to center on a central question: do social media companies have the right to independently decide what content appears on their platforms, amplifying or removing content as they see fit?

The social media companies say their First Amendment free speech rights are being violated with the Texas and Florida laws. The states say those social media companies arent entitled to First Amendment free speech protection. And it may come down to whether a majority of the court sees social media as more like a newspaper or more like a telephone company.

Charles Rocky Rhodes, a professor of law at South Texas College of Law in Houston, said both of these laws are on hold and have not yet gone into effect because of pending court cases.

They were a response to some of the social media platforms de-platforming Donald Trump and other politicians in the wake of the Jan. 6 riots at the Capitol, Rhodes said. And there was a concern from Texas and from Florida that [these politicians] were being targeted because of their conservative beliefs.

And so the idea of both of these laws was to try to keep social media platforms from banning individuals or discriminating against individuals based on the viewpoints of their speech. And it also placed some very onerous burdens on social media companies with respect to disclosure requirements of their terms and their policies with respect to data management and content, and the use policies that they would be using.

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The plaintiff in the case is NetChoice, an industry association that includes most of the big platforms we all think of Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, etc.

Theyre making the play that when they are deciding which messages to amplify and which messages that they want to remove from their platform, that they are acting as the modern editor of a newspaper, and there are good precedent for the United States Supreme Court saying that a state cant tell a newspaper what to print, Rhodes said.

Theyre arguing that the same principle applies to them, that they are allowed to make editorial decisions on their private platform. And this is something that people have to keep in mind that the social media companies, as big and important as they are, are not the government. They are actually privately-owned.

Texas and Florida, however, say these companies are acting as a common carrier and therefore do not have a claim to free speech.

Theyre trying to say that social media companies are a modern equivalent of what used to be a very familiar idea of the common carrier, that they dont have the ability to discriminate with respect to their service. They have to accept everyone, Rhodes said. And the social media companies come back and say, well, common carriers were different because they never engaged in their own expressive activities.

Common carriers did sometimes transmit the speech of others, like a telegraph would be the old example, or telephone But they did not actually engage in their own expressive activities. And the social media companies are claiming that we do because we are trying to communicate messages. Were creating news feeds for individuals. Were trying to increase, of course, advertising streams that we are engaged in expressive activities in a way that your internet service provider or in a way that your telephone company is not.

As this case goes forward, Rhodes said the states arguments are rooted in political ideology.

The Texas law has a specific exemption for companies under 50 million users. So it wouldnt cover conservative sites like Parler, he said. The Florida law had exemptions for Disney and for Universal that were then taken out once Disney and Universal started criticizing Florida [political leaders]. A big part of the underlying motivation for these laws was the political concern that conservatives thought that their voices were being removed from the site and the marketplace of ideas.

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U.S. Supreme Court to hear Texas and Florida cases about free speech and social media platforms - Texas Standard

How Supreme Court arguments over social media laws and free speech defined social media itself – Quartz

The Supreme Court heard arguments Monday for two lawsuits about how social media giants should or should not be able to regulate speech on their platforms. Chief justices went back and forth with state solicitors general and their opposing party, making what may seem like far-fetched comparisons between social media and everything from bookstores to parade organizers and wedding planners.

Facebook's 2016 election problems will be the same in 2024 | What's Next for Meta?

The two cases in question one from Florida, one from Texas were brought by NetChoice, a trade association that represents social media sites like Metas Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, and more. NetChoice said two state laws in Florida and Texas that ban companies from censoring content on their platforms are actually forms of censorship themselves. Paul Clement, the attorney for NetChoice, argued that the laws violate the First Amendment because they compel speech, forcing platforms to host posts that violate their policies.

At the heart of NetChoices argument is that social media platforms are like newspapers, so editorializing content is their First Amendment right.

But Florida solicitor general Henry Whitaker said social media is more like a telephone company (pdf): If Verizon asserted a First Amendment right to cancel disfavored subscribers at a whim, that claim would fail.

The design of the First Amendment is to prevent the suppression of speech not to enable it. That is why the telephone company and the delivery service have no First Amendment right to use their services as a chokepoint to silence those they disfavor, he said.

Texas solicitor general Aaron Nielson had a similar argument (pdf), but likened social media to a public square. [I]f platforms that passively host the speech of billions of people are themselves the speakers and can discriminate, there will be no public square to speak of.

One concern of chief justice Amy Coney Barrett is that the state laws would consider algorithms to be editors, meaning that states could ban how algorithms are applied by online sites or other businesses that sell content. Florida solicitor general Whitaker said algorithms are just a means of sites organizing content, not editorializing it.

That led to more concern, though. Could Florida enact a law telling bookstores that they have to put everything out by alphabetical order? Coney Barrett asked.

Whitaker said, no, the state laws prevent social media sites from censorship, not how they organize their content.

But NetChoices Clement argued that algorithms are editors: These algorithms dont spring from the ether. They are essentially computer programs designed by humans to try to do some of this editorial function. That means that a Supreme Court ruling allowing the state laws to remain would open the door for lawsuits against how algorithms function.

Were not quite sure who it covers, chief justice Ketanji Brown told Whitaker about the Florida law.

So Whitaker said the Florida law would apply to sites like Etsy and Uber, meaning those sites couldnt ban user-generated content unless they provide thorough rationale. Meanwhile, Nielson said the Texas state law, which is narrower than Floridas in scope, wouldnt apply to platforms outside of classic social media sites.

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How Supreme Court arguments over social media laws and free speech defined social media itself - Quartz

Generative AI, Free Speech, & Public Discourse: Why the Academy Must Step Forward | TechPolicy.Press – Tech Policy Press

On Tuesday, Columbia Engineering and the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University co-hosted a well-attended symposium, Generative AI, Free Speech, & Public Discourse. The event combined presentations about technical research relevant to the subject with addresses and panels discussing the implications of AI for democracy and civil society.

While a range of topics were covered across three keynotes, a series of seed funding presentations, and two panelsone on empirical and technological questions and a second on legal and philosophical questionsa number of notable recurring themes emerged, some by design and others more organically:

This event was part of one partnership amongst others in an effort that Columbia University president Manouche Shafik and engineering school dean Shih-Fu Chang referred to as AI+x, where the school is seeking to engage with various other parts of the university outside of computer engineering to better explore the potential impacts of current developments in artificial intelligence. (This event was also a part of Columbias Dialogue Across Difference initiative, which was established as part of a response to campus conflict around the Israel-Gaza conflict.) From its founding, the Knight Institute has focused on how new technologies affect democracy, requiring collaboration with experts in those technologies.

Speakers on the first panel highlighted sectors where they have already seen potential for positive societal impact of AI, outside of the speech issues that the symposium was focussed on. These included climate science, drug discovery, social work, and creative writing. Columbia engineering professor Carl Vondrick suggested that current large language models are optimized for social media and search, a legacy of their creation by corporations that focus on these domains, and the panelists noted that only by working directly with diverse groups can their needs for more customized models be understood. Princeton researcher Arvind Narayanan proposed that domain experts play a role in evaluating models as, in his opinion, the current approach of benchmarking using standardized tests is seriously flawed.

During the conversation between Jameel Jaffer, Director of the Knight Institute, and Harvard Kennedy School security technologist Bruce Schneier, general principles for successful interdisciplinary work were discussed, like humility, curiosity and listening to each other; gathering early in the process; making sure everyone is taken seriously; and developing a shared vocabulary to communicate across technical, legal, and other domains. Jaffer recalled that some proposals have a lot more credibility in the eyes of policymakers when they are interdisciplinary. Cornell Tech law professor James Grimmelman, who specializes in helping lawyers and technologists understand each other, remarked that these two groups are particularly well-equipped to work together, once they can figure out what the other needs to know.

President Shafik declared that if a responsible approach to AIs impact on society requires a +x, Columbia (surely along with other large research universities) has lots of xs. This positions universities as ideal voices for the public good, to balance out the influence of the tech industry that is developing and controlling the new generation of large language models.

Stanfords Tatsunori Hashimoto, who presented his work on watermarking generative AI text outputs, emphasized that the vendors of these models are secretive, and so the only way to develop a public technical understanding of them is to build them within the academy, and take on the same tasks as the commercial engineers, like working on alignment fine-tuning and performing independent evaluations. One relevant and striking finding by his group was that the reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF) process tends to push models towards the more liberal opinions common amongst highly-educated Americans.

The engineering panel developed a wishlist of infrastructure resources that universities (and others outside of the tech industry) need to be able to study how AI can be used to benefit and not harm society, such as compute resources, common datasets, separate syntax models so that vetted content datasets can be added for specific purposes, and student access to models. In the second panel, Camille Franois, a lecturer at the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs and presently a senior director of trust & safety at Niantic Labs, highlighted the importance of having spaces, presumably including university events such as the one at Columbia, to discuss how AI developments are impacting civil discourse. On a critical note, Knight Institute executive director Katy Glenn Bass also pointed out that universities often do not value cross-disciplinary work to the same degree as typical research, and this is an obstacle to progress in this area, given how essential collaboration across disciplines is.

Proposals for regulation were made throughout the symposium, a number of which are listed below, but the keynote by Bruce Schneier was itself an argument for government intervention. Schneiers thesis was, in brief, that corporation-controlled development of generative AI has the potential to undermine the trust that society needs to thrive, as chatbot assistants and other AI systems may present as interpersonally trustworthy, but in reality are essentially designed to drive profits for corporations. To restore trust, it is incumbent on governments to impose safety regulations, much as they do for airlines. He proposed a regulatory agency for the AI and robotics industry, and the development of public AI models, created under political accountability and available for academic and new for-profit uses, enabling a freer market for AI innovation.

Specific regulatory suggestions included:

A couple of cautions were also voiced: Narayanan warned that the Liars Dividend could be weaponized by authoritarian governments to crack down on free expression, and Franois noted the focus on watermarking and deepfakes at the expense of unintended harms, such as chatbots giving citizens incorrect voting information.

There was surprisingly little discussion during the symposium of how generative AI specifically influences public discourse, which Jaffer defined in his introductory statement as acts of speaking and listening that are part of the process of democracy and self-governance. Rather, much of the conversation was about online speech generally, and how it can be influenced by this technology. As such, an earlier focus of online speech debates, social media, came up a number of times, with clear parallels in terms of concern over corporate control and a need for transparency.

Hashimoto referenced the notion that social media causes feedback loops that greatly amplify certain opinions. LLMs can develop data feedback loops which may cause a similar phenomenon that is very difficult to identify and unpick without substantial research. As chatbots become more personalized, suggested Vondrick, they may also create feedback on an individual user level, directing them to more and more of the type of content that they have already expressed an affinity for, akin to the social media filter bubble hypothesis.

Another link to social media was drawn in the last panel, during which both Grimmelmann and Franois drew on their expertise in content moderation. They agreed that the most present danger to discourse from generative AI is inauthentic content and behavior overwhelming the platforms that we rely on, and worried that we may not yet have the tools and infrastructure to counter it. (Franois described a key tension between the Musk effect pushing disinvestment in content moderation and the Brussels effect encouraging a ramping up in on-platform enforcement via the DSA.) At the same time, trust and safety approaches like red-teaming and content policy development are proving key to developing LLMs responsibly. The correct lesson to draw from the failures to regulate social media, proposed Grimmelmann, was the danger of giving up on antitrust enforcement, which could be of great value when current AI foundation models are developed and controlled by a few (and in several cases the same) corporations.

One final theme was a framing of the current moment as one of transition. Even though we are grappling with how to adapt to realistic, readily available synthetic content at scale, there will be a point in the future, perhaps even for todays young children, that this will be intuitively understood and accounted for, or at least that media literacy education, or tools (like watermarking) will have caught up.

Several speakers referenced prior media revolutions. Narayanan was one of several who discussed the printing press, pointing out that even this was seen as a crisis of authority: no longer could the written word be assumed to be trusted. Wikipedia was cited by Columbia Engineering professor Kathy McKeown as an example of media that was initially seen as untrustworthy, but whose benefits, shortcomings, and suitable usage are now commonly understood. Franois noted that use of generative AI is far from binary and that we have not yet developed good frameworks to evaluate the range of applications. Grimmelman mentioned both Wikipedia and the printing press as examples of technologies where no one could have accurately predicted how things would shake out in the end.

As the Knight Institutes Glenn Bass stated explicitly, we should not assume that generative AI is harder to work through than previous media crises, or that we are worse equipped to deal with it. However, two speakers flagged that the tech industry should not be the given free rein: USC Annenbergs Mike Ananny warned that those with invested interests may attempt to prematurely push for stabilization and closure, and we should treat this with suspicion; and Princetons Narayanan noted that this technology is producing a temporary societal upheaval and that its costs should be distributed fairly. Returning to perhaps the dominant takeaways from the event, these comments again implied a role for the academy and for the government in guiding the development of, adoption of, and adaptation to the emerging generation of generative AI.

Read more:

Generative AI, Free Speech, & Public Discourse: Why the Academy Must Step Forward | TechPolicy.Press - Tech Policy Press

Free Speech or Hate Speech? | GW Today | The George Washington University – GW Today

What are the free speech rights of university students? That was the first question posed by moderator Jeffrey Rosen, GW Law professor and president of the National Constitution Center, to a panel of George Washington University faculty experts on the First Amendment.

The webinar, Free Speech v. Hate Speech: First Amendment Scholars Discuss Where to Draw the Line in the Context of Higher Education, was held as part of the universitys plan for strengthening the GW community in challenging times, with the goal of fostering civil conversations about complex issues and emphasizing university policies.

The incoming inaugural Burchfield Professor of First Amendment and Free Speech Law, Mary-Rose Papandrea, began by noting that the First Amendment applies to public and not private universities, but private universities often look to the First Amendment principles for guidance. Under the First Amendment, she explained, some categories of speech receive no First Amendment protection, such as incitement of unlawful conduct, threats of violence, or giving material support to terrorists. But offensive speech and bad words are not carved out from the First Amendment. In a public university setting, however, there is some leeway for penalizing speech that would be otherwise protected. She suggested classrooms provide the best example of this.

When I ask a student to tell me the holding of a case, I actually want the holding of the case, and there is a wrong answer, Papandrea said. And if the student doesnt give me the correct answer, that will result in a lower grade in the class. Outside in the town square you can engage in false speech, incorrect speech, or misrepresentations and cannot be, as a general matter, punished by the government.

Most of the tensions surrounding free speech on campuses today, she added, arise when universities attempt to regulate the speech of faculty and students outside of the classroom.

Universities are the quintessential marketplace of ideas, Papandrea said, and we should be really concerned when the university starts making viewpoint-based speech restrictions outside of the classroom.

First Amendment: Does everything go?

In the view of Mary Anne Franks, Eugene L. and Barbara A. Bernard Professor in Intellectual Property, Technology and Civil Rights Law, free speech issues are clouded by unequal power relations, often resulting in protection of reckless speech for the majority but not for minorities. Franks proposes an alternative paradigm encouraging what she describes as fearless speech.

If we really want to talk about free speech, we actually need to get away from the First AmendmentI mean the kind of popularized version of the First Amendment which says everything goes, and you can never have any kind of intervention, Franks said.

People operating under this misconception, she added, argue that any kind of devaluation or nonplatforming constitutes censorship. That idea, she said, is pernicious.

When we think about what the First Amendment actually does, its not really telling us anything about free speech, Franks said. Its telling us about what the government cant do in certain contexts. And thats really useful to know, because the government has a lot of power that no individual has and because the kinds of measures it can take against you include the loss of your liberty. But I dont know that its such a good model for us as a private university. How much are we like a government? What we could be doing instead, and what I think successful universities do when they want to be marketplaces of ideas or spaces for intellectual, robust debate, is set standards. What are the good ideas? Whether an idea is controversial or noncontroversial is not the point.

Instead, Franks said, ideas should be well informed and argued eloquently. She argues in favor of a conscious curation of the best ideas that reflect the universitys values, expressed as persuasively as possible without threats of force or ad hominem attacks.

What is the kind of speech that a university could uniquely try to foster? she asked. What kind of space could it foster to become a forum where really difficult ideas get aired out in a way that is physically safe but also sophisticated? Im suggesting that we move toward fearless speech and critiques of current power structures, that we take notice of the fact that reality is a certain way. There are certain sensitivities to race and gender and class that we really need to have on our radar, if we want to make sure that people within the university space can speak equally.

Free speech at a private university

Dawn Nunziato, Pedas Family Professor of IP and Technology Law, agreed that the First Amendment is not necessarily the right one for every context.

At a private university like GW, we have the autonomy and the freedom and the duty to decide what kind of community we want to be, Nunziato said, and within certain bounds, what types of speech we want to protect and to not protect. Our speech policies are not governed by the First Amendment. So we dont need to protect hate speech in the same way that the First Amendment protects hate speech. We could draw the line very differently. And there are reasons why we should, and we should be very thoughtful about how we draw the line. We may choose to value inclusivity and belonging over the unfettered marketplace of ideas.

Under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Nunziato noted, GW has a responsibility to provide an educational environment free of discrimination.

Robust discussion and respectful listening

The panels discussion touched on the recent congressional hearings at which the presidents of three elite universities were criticized for saying that whether speech could be considered hate speech depends on context.

After pointing out that she didnt view it as incorrect to say that the answer to questions of free speech v. hate speech can depend on context, Papandrea noted examples of speech that should be protected, such as an antisemitic line spoken by a character in a play meant to condemn antisemitism. The same line spoken by a student marching across campus could be viewed as creating a hostile environment.

Franks, too, was sympathetic to the trio of university presidents, who may have been reacting to the charge that universities are a woke paradise for snowflakes who require trigger warnings.

The most upsetting thing about the spectacle is not any of those presidents answers, Franks said. It was the fact that the spectacle was happening at alla real invocation and revitalization of a McCarthyesque kind of moment, with legislators who have made it clear that antisemitism and white supremacy are things that they either dont have a problem with or actively support. It was a really grotesque spectacle, she added, a bad faith attempt to attack diversity.

If we object to the First Amendments protection of vile speech in the public square, Nunziato said, we take that up with the Supreme Court, which defines the First Amendments protections. But whether vile speech should be restricted in the university environment is a different question, she added.

Balancing robust, sometimes caustic and heated discussion on issues of public importance against the legal obligations that we have to protect our community members from discriminatory harassment, Nunziato said, is an important part of what we do as a university.

Being part of a university community, Nunziato said, presents a unique opportunity to interact more thoughtfully than people do on social media.

Our University Yard and the quad are spaces where there may be protesters and counter-protesters, but we can be there together, Nunziato said, and engage in speech and counterspeech, unlike in some of the online environments where we have egregious problems of information silos and people going down rabbit holes. In the university environment, were all on our phones and on social media, but were also in spaces where we can engage with one another. Maybe were raising our voices, but we can listen to one another. One of the principles in our code of conduct is that members of the university community are urged to hear all sides of controversial issues.

In closing remarks, Rosen quoted Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, who argued that the correct remedy for harmful speech is more speech, not enforced silence. Only an emergency can justify repression.

The concluding webinar, Rosen said, was a model of the kind of robust discussion and respectful listening that Brandeis advocated.

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