Free speech in the age of the Internet will be the topic of the annual Constitution Day lecture to be delivered by Cass R. Sunstein, the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday (Sept. 17) in Lowell Lecture Hall.
Sunstein's concerns are about "the nature of self-government in the Internet era, and its relationship to the founders' ideals," he said. "One issue will be polarization and fragmentation - [both of which are] made easier by new technologies."
Sunstein, a renowned legal scholar and political theorist, joined the Harvard Law School faculty this fall after teaching at the University of Chicago Law School. The author of 15 books and hundreds of scholarly articles, Sunstein's wide-ranging career has included clerking for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and participating in constitution-making and law reform activities in nations such as the Ukraine, Poland, China, South Africa, and Russia. (Bio at http://www.law.harvard.edu/news/2008/02/19_sunstein.php.)
The Constitution Day lecture is sponsored by the Harvard University Office of the Provost and is open to all Harvard students, faculty, and staff. A lecture is held every year to commemorate the signing of the United States Constitution on Sept. 17, 1787. Everyone who attends the lecture will be given a copy of the Constitution.
The lecture is titled "Self-Government.com: Free Speech in the Age of the Internet" and will be broadcast live on the Web at http://video2.harvard.edu:8080/ramgen/broadcast/constitution.rm. The lecture will be archived on the Web following its delivery at http://video2.harvard.edu:8080/ramgen/vpf_ufs/Constitution2008.rm.
© 2008 The President and Fellows of Harvard College
