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Smiling woman with short brown hair, wearing a black top, layered gold necklaces, and turquoise earrings, posed against a plain light gray background—capturing the spirit of NYC Free Expression Advocacy Institute PEN.

Kristen Shahverdian

Program Director, Campus Free Speech

Kristen Shahverdian is the program director of campus free speech at PEN America, developing campus engagements and public events related to free expression and education. Before joining PEN America, she was a senior lecturer at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and previously was an adjunct professor at Rowan University and Temple University. She served as a project manager for the Philadelphia Folklore Project, and facilitated workshops on how to teach representations of violence in art at Moore College of Art & Design, Common Field, the College Art Association and Dance Studies Association. She is also a writer and editor at the online dance journal thINKingDANCE. She received her BA in history and dance from Hamilton College, her MFA in dance from Temple University, and her MA in socially engaged art from Moore College of Art & Design.

Publications

Campuses for All: How Free Speech Education Can Protect and Enrich Colleges and Universities
Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, November 2023

How campuses can protect free speech and student safety amid the Israel-Hamas war
Higher Ed Dive, November 2023

Articles by Kristen Shahverdian

A sheriffs deputy stands in a classroom speaking to students. One student sits at a desk; faces are blurred. Classroom walls have colorful decorations. Text at the bottom reads, its now against the law to use the words six seven.
U.S. Free Expression
Wednesday November 19

6-7 Might Be Annoying, but Should We Police It?

We want our students to be excited by their right to express themselves through their speech, music, dance, painting, and writing.

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A large group of people gather outdoors holding Palestinian flags, with a historic building and leafless trees in the background under a cloudy sky.
AdvocacyCampus Free SpeechEducational CensorshipU.S. Free Expression
Friday November 7

PEN America Urges University of Minnesota Regents to Reconsider Restrictions on Departmental Speech

“While the resolution may have been rationalized as a way to support the expression of diverse viewpoints, in practice it is often having the opposite impact.”

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A college campus with a brick building, trees, and walkways under a blue sky. In bold red letters, DEI Events Canceled is stamped across the image.
Campus Free Speech
Friday February 14

‘This Conference Has Been Canceled’:  The Impact of Trump’s War on ‘DEI’

Since the beginning of President Trump’s second term (less than a month ago), there has been a disturbing – and accelerating – trend of cancelations on college campuses, with all manner of events being called off, seemingly because they are related to race, LGBTQ+ identities or “DEI” as conceived by its critics.

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More Articles by Kristen Shahverdian

Harvard library protests
Campus Free Speech
Monday February 10

A Riddle for Modern Academia: Where Can Studying Get You Suspended?

A stone sign reads University of Pennsylvania with a small emblem on the left. It is surrounded by lush green trees and plants. The grass in front is neatly trimmed.
U.S. Free Expression
Thursday October 10

Sanctions Against Amy Wax Raise Alarms For Academic Freedom

A woman with short hair sits in a motorized wheelchair, wearing a patterned shirt and dark pants. She has a tracheostomy tube and is smiling in front of a gray stone wall.
U.S. Free Expression
Friday September 22

A Disability Activist Is Asked to Change Her Speech By Boston University Her Response: In Future Speaking Contracts, No Changes will be Allowed