Open Inquiry in Polarized Times: Sociology Department Welcomes Campus Free Speech Scholar for Upcoming Rieger Speaker Series

By Stephanie Godward, Communications and Marketing Director, College of Arts & Sciences 

The University of Louisville’s 2026 Jon H. Rieger Speaker Series will feature Dr. Sigal Ben-Porath, a leading scholar from the University of Pennsylvania whose research explores the role of free speech, civic education, and democratic engagement in schools and universities. 

In her talk, “Campus Speech in Polarized Times,” Ben-Porath will examine how institutions of higher education can uphold open inquiry while navigating today’s increasingly divided political and cultural climate.  

The event will take place Thursday, March 19 at 6 p.m. in the Student Activity Center, Room W117, with a reception to follow. 

Ben-Porath is the director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Stavros Niarchos Foundation Paideia Program. Through this center, she works with students on the pedagogical aspects of promoting free speech on campus. 

“This topic is something she’s been working on for a long time, and she’s examined it from many different perspectives and angles, which I think is incredibly powerful, especially for a topic like this,” said Michal Kofman, Associate Professor of Sociology, who is organizing the event. “Historically, she’s one of the few scholars with an extensive publication record not only on free speech in general, but on free speech on college campuses specifically.”  

Knowing that Ben-Porath can connect with such a broad audience was significant to the department in reaching out to her to be a part of this lecture.  

“We want these talks to remain rigorous and research-driven and to bring leading thinkers to campus, but we also want them to be accessible and appealing to the broader public and the community,” Kofman said. 

Ben-Porath's work focuses on the balance between protecting free expression and fostering respectful learning environments — a tension many campuses are grappling with nationwide. 

Drawing on her research in political philosophy and education policy, Ben-Porath will address the legal, ethical and cultural challenges surrounding speech on campus, and share practical approaches academic communities can use to sustain meaningful dialogue, rigorous research, and student learning while remaining within federal and state law. 

“So, it’s not just that she addresses free speech at the level of policy or formal institutional practices; she’s also asking what this work looks like in the classroom and how educators can meaningfully engage with it,” Kofman said. 

Audience questions about current campus speech challenges are encouraged. 

“My hope is that the talk will be well attended so we can bring together a diversity of perspectives and areas of expertise and explore how people are approaching these issues both in practice and in theory,” Kofman said. “Creating a space where people can be candid about these topics is something that both Sigal and I value deeply. More broadly—and this is true of all our talks—I want this event to serve as the beginning of a conversation, or the start of deeper thinking about the issue, rather than the culmination of it.”