Center for Reflective Citizenship
Thirteenth Annual Dr. Richard Gruetzemacher Constitution Day Lecture Series
Public Lecture and Symposium: “The First Amendment, the Academy, and the Media: Restoring a Marketplace of Ideas”
Joshua Dunn, Executive Director of the University of Tennessee Institute of American Civics
Wednesday, September 13th, 2023
7:30 PM–9:00 PM
Tennessee Room, University Center
The general public, the UTC community, and educators and students from a variety of schools and colleges in the region are cordially invited to attend.
The event may be streamed live at https://livestream.com/utc/constitutiondaylecture2023
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC) Center for Reflective Citizenship
Co-sponsored the University of Tennessee Institute of American Civics, the UTC Probasco Chair of Free Enterprise, the UTC College of Health, Education and Professional Studies, and the Jack Miller Center for Teaching America’s Founding Principles.
As they prepare to inherit our American democracy, today’s college students are at a severe disadvantage. Many have grown up in an era of declining civic virtues in the society around them–most notably a decline in civility, compromise, and a willingness to admit that, as Senator Baker often noted, “the other fella might be right.” Institute advisor and social psychologist Jonathan Haidt argues that the current generation of college students has been taught that they are engaged in a battle of good versus evil, and that those who do not share their political values are to be shunned, not engaged or listened to.
—University of Tennessee, Institute of American Civics Report, “A New Model for Civic Education in America’s Public Universities,” August 31, 2022
Many Democrats and Republicans have also found common ground on the idea of stripping social media platforms of the broad legal protections they enjoy when it comes to user-generated content—although the liberal and conservative justifications for that proposed step differ greatly.
—Jacob Mchangama, “The War on Free Speech: Censorship’s Global Rise,” Foreign Affairs March/April 2022
Joshua Dunn (PhD, University of Virginia) is the Executive Director of the Institute of American Civics at the Howard H. Baker School for Public Policy and Public Affairs. His research and teaching interests are in constitutional law and history, education policy, federalism, and freedom of speech and religion. Professor Dunn’s columns on education reform appear regularly in the journal Education Next. Dunn’s research and commentary have also been featured in publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The Los Angeles Times. Previously, he was Executive Director of the Center for the Study of Government and the Individual at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. Dunn was also a professor and chair of the UCCS department of political science. He began his teaching career at the College of William & Mary, where he was a fellow in contemporary history, public policy, and American politics at the Miller Center of Public Affairs in Charlottesville, Virginia. Please visit https://bakercenter.utk.edu/people-institute-for-american-civics/josh-dunn/ for more information about Professor Dunn.
Professor Dunn is the primary speaker, but the event is also a symposium. John, “Jack” Zibluk, formerly an award-winning journalist, and now an accomplished academic, will respond to Professor Dunn’s comments, and members of the audience may address questions to one or both speakers.
John B. “Jack” Zibluk, (PhD, Bowling Green State University), is Masengill Professor of Communication, teaches media history (incorporating a unit on the First Amendment), environmental communication, mass media and society, publication design, and other courses at UTC. His research interests are media literacy, narrative visual storytelling, media law, and media ethics. A self-described "recovering journalist," he was a newspaper reporter and editor in Connecticut, and continues to balance an academic career with professional journalism endeavors. Professor Zibluk was a photojournalist, columnist and editor for the Memphis Commercial Appeal, with columns appearing in the Chronicle of Higher Education and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. As ethics columnist for News Photographer magazine, he won the National Press Photographers Association Garland "educator of the year" award in 2005. He also was chosen as the 2002 faculty fellow at National Geographic magazine where he served as a scholar in residence. Zibluk is also President-elect of the UTC faculty senate. For more information about Professor Zibluk please visit: https://www.utc.edu/sites/default/files/2020-11/zibluk.pdf
For more information, and to reserve seats, contact the Center for Reflective Citizenship at [email protected] or 423-425-5603.
Founded in 2011, The Center for Reflective Citizenship (CRC) is a unit of UTC’s College of Health, Education, and Professional Studies. The CRC is dedicated to the revitalization of civic education in American schools and universities, and the equipping of a new generation of thoughtful citizens for the practice of democracy. The CRC, directed by Lucien Ellington, has an interdisciplinary focus.