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Across the country, young people are witnessing the exercise of peaceful assembly rights, journalists going the extra mile to keep citizens informed, and heated debates over who should control what can be posted on social media. Free speech rights are essential to enabling a rising generation to be heard, and to ensuring that public discourse includes the widest array of ideas and opinions.
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Against this backdrop, PEN America is proud to announce its first-ever Free Speech Advocacy Institute. Designed for talented and ambitious high school and college students, this one-of-a-kind professional certificate program will equip students to become forceful advocates for free speech and civil liberties, on campuses and beyond. The Institute will meet virtually on weekdays from July 20 to July 31, from 1pm to 5pm EDT.
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Sessions will cover topics like protest and civil disobedience, press freedom and local news in the age of Trump, disinformation and the fight for truth online, and defending artistic freedom. Skills training sessions will also cover how to lead an advocacy campaign, media literacy skills, and how to galvanize your cause on social media. Featured experts will include Suzanne Nossel, Jennifer Egan, Masha Gessen, and Nora Benavidez.
PEN America will offer two tracks: one for students entering grades 10-12, another for rising and current college students.
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Each track will offer a crash course in combating major threats to free speech, such as censorship, harassment, and disinformation. The daily schedule will include conversations, presentations, and skills training sessions led by expert legal and policy practitioners from PEN America, and participants will cap their experience by working in small groups to design free speech advocacy campaigns of their own.
The program will offer excellent preparation and a relevant credential for future internships and work opportunities in the policy and advocacy realm. Apply now, by June 23 (space is limited).
For questions, write to us at [email protected].
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