The core of “Sharing Ground” is our regular discussion sessions, which will occur throughout the 2026-2027 academic year. Details about our next event are below. If you would like to learn more about our other upcoming events, please scroll further down and click each event title to reveal more details.
For all our events, registering in advance is not required, but we appreciate if you are able to, as it assists with our planning.
Friday, September 18, 2026
Academic Freedom and the Humanities: A Conversation
Our seminar officially begins with a moderated discussion between Michael S. Roth, President of Wesleyan University, and Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University.
Program Schedule:
4:00 PM: Keynote Dialogue, followed by Q&A
5:30 PM: Reception
Location: Duke University’s Rubenstein Arts Center
Click here for directions via Google Maps
Parking: We have arranged for free parking across the street in the Campus Drive lot. Please note that this lot is listed as paid parking, but seminar attendees will be able to park without charge.
Co-sponsored by Duke University’s Office of the Provost and the Civil Discourse Project at the Sanford School of Public Policy’s Center for Politics.
Future Events
Please click each title to learn more about that event.
Friday, October 2, 2026
Philosophical Approaches to Speech and Expression
Our seminar continues by considering how philosophy conceptualizes academic freedom and how philosophical discourse sheds light on our central questions surrounding freedom of expression in teaching and research.
Speakers:
Anton Ford (University of Chicago)
Richard Amesbury (Arizona State University)
Ásta (Duke University)
This event will take place at 2:00 PM on Duke University’s campus. More details forthcoming.
Friday, October 23, 2026
The Humanities and the Limits of Academic Freedom
Our third session will explore what bounds we might set on academic freedom, with a special emphasis on how those answers may differ between public and private universities.
Speakers:
Jed Atkins (University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill)
Joseph Blocher (Duke Law School)
This event will take place at 2:00 PM on the campus of North Carolina State University. More details forthcoming.
Friday, November 6, 2026
Academic Freedom and Religious Freedom
The seminar’s fourth session examines points of convergence and points of distinction between academic freedom and religious freedom.
Speakers:
Shai Ginsburg (Duke University)
Jason Bivins (North Carolina State University)
Rev. Dr. Luke Powery (Duke Divinity School and Duke Chapel)
Omid Safi (Duke University)
This event will take place at 2:00 PM on Duke University’s campus. More details forthcoming.
Friday, December 4, 2026
More than Speech? Music, Musicology, and Academic Freedom
In our final event for the fall semester, we ponder what humanistic academic freedom looks like in music—a discipline in which free expression encompasses far more than speech alone.
Speakers:
William Cheng (Dartmouth College)
Deborah Rutter (Duke University)
Gabriel Solis (University of Washington)
This conversation will be moderated by Verena Mösenbichler-Bryant (Duke University).
This event will take place at 2:00 PM on Duke University’s campus. More details forthcoming.
Details about our Spring 2027 events will be posted here later in the Fall.
