Nov. 20-21, Columbia University
Date: Wed, 23 Oct 2002 10:41:49 -0400

From: x-post: NINCH-ANNOUNCE <davidninch.org>

NATIONAL ARTS JOURNALISM PROGRAM TO HOST NOV. 20-21 CONFERENCE ON ISSUES OF
FREE EXPRESSION IN THE ARTS

Disputes about free expression in the arts have always loomed as struggles
between creativity and repression, transgression and outrage, candor and
hypocrisy. From "Lady Chatterley's Lover" to Andres Serrano's "Piss Christ,"
the sequence has been predictable: Scandalized citizens, religious leaders
or politicians fire an opening salvo of protest or funding cuts. Then
artists, invoking the muses and the First Amendment, fire back, accusing
their accusers of obtuseness and mindless censorship. While high-profile
shootouts at art museums and less visible skirmishes at libraries and
theaters persist, overt censorship is no longer the only, or the most dire,
threat to free expression. The current terrain bears little resemblance to
the "culture war" battlegrounds of a decade ago, much less to what the First
Amendment's framers could have imagined.

The NAJP will address this ever-shifting terrain in "The New Gatekeepers: A
Conference on Free Expression in the Arts," Nov. 20 and 21 at the Columbia
University Graduate School of Journalism. The conference will bring together
a cross-disciplinary group of participants -- artists, technologists, media
executives, lawmakers, museum curators, theater producers, legal experts,
government regulators, free-speech advocates, and of course journalists --
to explore the shifting frontiers of free-expression in the arts and search
for workable solutions for the future.
http://www.najp.org/conferences/gatekeepers/panels.htm

Speakers Include:
Cass Sunstein, professor of law, University of Chicago
Rochelle Gurstein, author, "The Repeal of Reticence"
Marjorie Heins, author and director, Free Expression Policy Project
Louis Menand, author, "The Metaphysical Club"; and professor, Graduate Center,
City University of New York
Amy Adler, professor of law, Columbia University
Carol Becker, dean, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Breck Rice, founder and chief operating officer, MovieMask
Peggy Ahwesh, media artist and filmmaker;
Max Anderson, director, Whitney Museum and president, Association of Art
Museum Directors
Roberto Bedoya, arts consultant
Marian Godfrey, director, Culture Programs, The Pew Charitable Trusts;
Saralyn Reece Hardy, director/curator, Salina Art Center and Cinema
Timothy McClimon, executive director, AT&T Foundation
Neal Gabler, journalist
Douglas Rushkoff, journalist
Jennifer Toomey, musician and executive director, Future of Music Coalition
Charles Mann, contributing editor, The Atlantic Monthly
Richard Masur, actor and former president, Screen Actors Guild
Gigi Sohn, president, Public Knowledge
Siva Vaidhyanathan, author and assistant professor, New York University
Allan Adler, vice president for government and legal affairs, American
Association of Booksellers
Barbara Hoffman, art lawyer
Beryl Howell, senior counselor to the chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee
Wendy Seltzer, founder, The Chilling Effects Clearinghouse, Harvard University
Paul DiMaggio, director of cultural policy studies, Princeton University
Cathleen McGuigan, senior cultural affairs editor, Newsweek
David Resnicow, president and founder, Resnicow Schroeder Associates
Danyel Smith, author and former editor in chief, Vibe