October 22 – 28, 2012
Join Us
From bloggers, artists, and high school students to civic groups, radio stations and universities - Free Speech Week is for you!
FSW ’11 Activities
The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression posted this on the wall of the First Amendment Monument in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Adam Kissel, Vice President of Programs at FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) spoke at two FSW events.
* Sam Houston State University, Oct. 19, 2011
* 2011 Students for Liberty Austin Regional Conference at U. of Texas - Austin, Oct. 22, 2011
For more information about Fire, visit their website here.
In celebration, the American Bar Association offered free resources on their website, including First Amendment-related Educator Lesson Plans. Visit the ABA here.
Routledge, Taylor & Francis offered free access to Quarterly Journal of Speech during FSW '11, plus a selection of free articles during the entire month of October. You can visit their website here.
On October 4, founding partner The Media Institute and it's First Amendment Advisory Council convened a seminar at the headquarters of the Motion Picture Association of America to explore First Amendment issues in honor of Free Speech Week. Read more about this event here. And on October 18, the Institute presented it's Freedom of Speech award to FCC Commissioner Robert M. McDowell at its annual awards banquet.
Watch the video the public access TV station of Oahu, Hawai'i posted in honor of FSW '11 and read more about how they practice free speech every day here.
Music Maker Relief Foundation held their annual Capitol Blues night in celebration of FSW '11. For more about the work of MMRF, go to www.musicmaker.org
Partners
A Partnering Organization is any group that would like to publicize Free Speech Week and promote free speech through one or more activities. For 2011 Partnering Organizations, click here. 
Become a Partner
Becoming a Partnering Organization can
be as simple as posting the official FSW
logo on your website. And - it’s free.
Click here to get started.
Massachusetts Governor Patrick Proclaims October 17-21 Freedom of Speech Week
On October 17th, 2011, FSW Partnering Organization PACTV announced that Massachusetts Governor Deval L. Patrick signed a Proclamation declaring the third week of October Freedom of Speech Week! The Proclamation was presented to the PACTV Board of Directors, staff and volunteers by Senate President Therese Murray, Representative Vinny deMacedo and Representative Tom Calter.
To commemorate FSW, NCA hosted a free teleconference with Joan Mower of the Voice of America on "International Perspective on Free Speech." Learn more about the NCA here.
On October 17, Assistant Professor Joseph Russomanno of ASU's Walter Cronkite School and Professor James Weinstein of ASU's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law commemorated FSW as part of their Must See Mondays series in the First Amendment Forum. Read more about their presentation here.
Professor Jeffrey Schindel spearheaded Geneva College's enthusiastic celebration of Free Speech Week. A Professor of Communications and Public Relations, he created ads encouraging students to participate in FSW that were run on campus advertising monitors; publicized the event at the Pennsylvania Communications Association Conference and also encouraged his students to write letters to the editor of the local newspaper expressing their views of freedom of speech within the context of the Occupy Wallstreet movement.
See coverage of Free Speech Week in their student-led newspaper, the Geneva Cabinet, here.
On October 18, students and faculty members at Eastfield College participated in a public debate hosted by Professor of Speech and Communication Courtney Brazile. Read more about the debate here. Professor Brazile also organized an event called "Trick or Treat for Free Speech" where 26 students from her class polled other students and and staff around campus about their views on a range of controversial issues. [This] is what Free Speech Week is all about." Brazile said "It's about getting people to voice their opinions." Click here for for more coverage of this creative event. 
Forum
While Free Speech Week is an annual celebration, free speech-related issues are worthy of discussion throughout the year.
Jefferson Muzzle Awards 2012
Each year the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression awards Muzzles to some of the biggest offenders of free speech. Watch their promo video for 2012 below, and click the link to see who made the list.