04/27/2026
Future Teachers participate in a Freedom of Speech Workshop
As part of SUNY Cortland’s celebration of the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, BridgeCortland and the Cortland Heterodox Campus Community invited Christi Hein, JD, M.Ed, to design and conduct a freedom of expression workshop designed primarily for future and current educators: Teaching Across Differences: The First Amendment, Civil Discourse, and Viewpoint Diversity in the Classroom.
On April 9, about 70 people, mostly education majors, participated in the 90-minute event.
Professor Hein, who teaches courses in law and government at Colorado Mesa University and is the founder of the 1791 Project, described the First Amendment and its relevance to education, emphasizing that it “protects not just the right to speak, but the conditions necessary for meaningful dialogue – listening, challenging, and engaging across differences.”
She moved the participants from considerations around free speech to those of “difficult speech,” noting that three kinds of speech are not protected: True threats, incitement to imminent lawless action, and harassment.
She continued, pointing out that “The U.S. Constitution does not recognize ‘hate speech’ as a separate category of unprotected speech. The government cannot prohibit speech simply because it is offensive or hateful.”
Hein helped the participants explore the idea that “the remedy to hate speech is more speech, not less,” referring to statements by Justice Luis Brandeis.
She then guided the participants to consider the concept of civil discourse: An interaction in which all parties demonstrate mutual respect and understanding. She asked participants to consider the role of civil discourse in the classroom, beginning with a key principle that grows from Justice Brandeis’ remedy for hate speech: “A free society does not eliminate harmful ideas – it equips its citizens to confront them.”
In group work, participants developed a foundational understanding of that principle by engaging in activities through which they learned about and from each other, about assumptions that we might make that could interfere with our understanding of situations and about other people’s beliefs about those situations.
Hein and participants discussed the information environment in today’s classrooms and the role of teachers in this environment, then they moved into small group discussions regarding certain classroom situations.
This event was a part of SUNY Cortland’s celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It was made possible by a generous contribution from Heterodox Academy and BridgeUSA, as well as support from SUNY Cortland’s Galpin Institute for Civic Engagement.