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Joint Statement from PEN America, AAC&U: Legislative Restrictions on Teaching and Learning Violate Academic Freedom and Threaten Higher Ed’s Autonomy

Press ReleaseJune 8, 2022

“Legislators who attack the constitutionally guaranteed freedoms of students and faculty are waging war against open inquiry itself,” said Suzanne Nossel, chief executive officer of PEN America. More

Educational Gag Orders Target Speech about LGBTQ+ Identities With New Prohibitions and Punishments

BlogFebruary 15, 2022

The effort to censor anti-LGBTQ identities in the classroom is expanding rapidly. More

College student with hand raised

In Higher Education, New Educational Gag Orders Would Exert Unprecedented Control Over College Teaching

Blog
By: Jeremy C. Young, Jonathan Friedman | February 1, 2022

In 2022, educational gag orders are being aimed squarely at colleges and universities to exert ideological control over what is being taught and read in classrooms. More

college-lecture

Steep Rise in Gag Orders, Many Sloppily Drafted

Blog
By: Jeffrey Sachs | January 24, 2022

Over the last three weeks, 65 bills have been formally introduced in state legislatures across the country, a rate of roughly three bills per day. More

Ron DeSantis speaking at a podium

New Stop W.O.K.E. Act Fits Disturbing Pattern in Education Culture War

Blog
By: Jeffrey Sachs | December 23, 2021

Governor DeSantis’s Stop W.O.K.E. Act, while undoubtedly aggressive, is no aberration. On the contrary, it is increasingly—and disturbingly—business as usual. More

Protesters gathered around Betty Sawyer

Scope and Speed of Educational Gag Orders Worsening Across the Country

Blog
By: Jeffrey Sachs | December 13, 2021

In the month since the release of our report, educational gag orders have grown more sweeping in scope and become law with increasing speed. More

2021 Arizona protest

Here Are Four Things Educational Gag Orders Could Ban

BlogDecember 9, 2021

We offer illustrative examples of texts, documents, and discourse that educational gag orders could bar from being taught or discussed in classrooms. More

Suzanne Nossel headshot

The PEN Pod: On Authoritarianism, Abortion Restrictions, and Protecting the Freedom to Learn

InterviewSeptember 17, 2021

“They are people who deserve our support, who’ve been working as human rights defenders inside their countries, who now are faced with the loss of their livelihood.” More

Koa Beck headshot

The PEN Pod: Challenging and Critiquing White Feminism with Koa Beck

InterviewJanuary 22, 2021

“A broader initiative that needs to be taken. . . is teaching marginalized genders. . . We have cis women, trans women, nonbinary people, trans men, gender-variant people, two-spirit,… More

Cracked music record with broken pieces on left; on the right: PEN America’s logo and “MAX original, On The Record”

On The Record: A Panel Conversation with Filmmakers and Survivors

Tuesday, December 1, 2020 | 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm PT
 More Information

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Salman Rushdie’s New Novel Turns a Spotlight On the Enduring Power of Stories
PEN America: Arrest of Protesters in Georgia on Broad and Vaguely-Worded ‘Domestic Terrorism’ Charges Could Chill the Right to Protest
PEN America Speaks: How We Defended and Celebrated Free Expression This Week
PEN America Condemns Ongoing Russian Efforts to Stifle Independent Media and Civil Society

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flfreedomread Florida Freedom to Read Project @flfreedomread ·
23h

Yesterday we logged almost 200 challenges- about 150 of those resulted in immediate removals.

This is a picture of all the books removed from one HS library, in one day, in one District, due to the objections of one man.

This is not freedom. #FreeTheBooks

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jonfreadom Jonathan Friedman 📚 @jonfreadom ·
17h

More book purging in FLORIDA https://twitter.com/FLFreedomRead/status/1620457139272814593

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penamerica PEN America @penamerica ·
14h

DeSantis' "disturbing pattern of silencing Black voices and aggressive attempts to erase Black history is one of the most visible examples of performative white supremacy since the presidency of Donald Trump"—@JNelsonLDF

#BlackHistoryMonth Read free: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/31/opinion/ron-desantis-black-history.html?unlocked_article_code=ihVqWDErMhDhg6k3c2neR43rmBDQJ-ZGYT0K4vIFW1656Ol0iuuZCoNguhERybhjjHxY_on_saXa1h9dkfw4PMDyAPhEB81Z2MpF4xFhXcbJwvM3ob4crJCqdCgSJqnNfCO6oS-22DixWt6x8kbeIm5sTyHf_GuWD9-Z0qQ1WQNc1xI8CWRh9RZWEiM_VppdwfREB89x9Hw6BWDN-Srt5ATsifYAGobICcqo3HRKlmhVrGEsAWrxXhQ-GJpCUKKAt5ClgarNNHZl6yQ8wQ26Y6UQ5HIuR4kR-0CMl0d3rx1RpK92k07qb6HFWf07qSe8morMKPioGBNgZFVkqtJA7AHGwro&smid=share-url

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