Delaware Humanities in partnership with the Delaware Libraries is excited to host the Joseph P. del Tufo Annual Lecture “Dangerous Speech and Cowardly Suppression: Censorship, Class, and the Impact of Technology” on October 28, 2021 at 6:30 PM. This year’s speaker will be San Francisco-based author, human rights lawyer, and journalist Eric Berkowitz.
In his lecture, Berkowitz will discuss several recurring themes driving censorship throughout the ages, including the fragility of power, the use of censorship to remake the past, the impact of technology, and the suppression of speech to guard feelings—from those of American slaveholders to marginalized groups today. The talk will dive deeply into the use of censorship in the 19th century to cement class, race, and gender privileges, and to prevent the lower orders in Europe from receiving information that might lead them to rise up in revolt. The anecdotes range from the egregious to the absurd, and the resonance to contemporary controversies is direct.
Eric Berkowitz is the author of the book Dangerous Ideas: A Brief History of Censorship from the Ancients to Fake News, published in May 2021, on the history of censorship in the West. His articles have appeared in The New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times, as well as outlets such as Salon and the Huffington Post.
The Annual Lecture was initiated in 1982 by Delaware Humanities to memorialize and honor Dr. Joseph P. del Tufo. Dr. del Tufo was an admired Delaware Humanities Board Member and respected professor at Delaware State College, now Delaware State University. The annual event is free, open to the public, and brings celebrated scholars and speakers to Delaware.
The 2021 lecture will be held virtually over Zoom. The event is free but registration is required. Visit Delaware Humanities’ website dehumanities.org for more information and to register.
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