Apply Now! Living Freedom Summer School 2025
Aged 18 to 30, have a passion for freedom and keen on discussion and debate? Apply for a scholarship to our three-day residential summer school in London. PLUS: upcoming events and interesting reads.
‘VIBE SHIFT’: A NEW ERA FOR FREEDOM?
Living Freedom is dedicated to renewing freedom for our times. Our three-day residential school on 26 to 28 June is open to anyone based in the UK or beyond. We aim to bring together participants with a wide range of interests and diverse views. Anyone interested in getting to grips with issues of freedom and free speech should apply – with all first-time attendees benefitting from a Living Freedom 2025 Scholarship that covers 90 per cent of fees (full cost £500). Full details available here.
Across the planet, political discussion is dominated by the American ‘Vibe Shift’ and the implications of Trump 2.0 for reshaping Western politics and culture. After a decade and more of freedoms feeling under siege, some anticipate that actions to counter race and gender ideologies, dismantle the DEI empire or ‘restore freedom of speech and end federal censorship’ will help usher in a more upbeat era, one where free expression again flourishes as the lifeblood of democracy.
Others remain downbeat, fearful that freedoms may founder on the rocks of legal or institutional resistance or be derailed by a partisan political class that rarely embraces the ideal of ‘free speech for all’. Is it sensible to rely on Trumpism for our freedoms? With technologies such as X now operating from the White House, and Meta now seemingly on board with the new regime, is the US government’s influence over ever more of the public square to be feared or celebrated?
Shifting loyalties and cultural hegemonies in the US are one thing, but what will be the impact downstream in Europe? Will Big Tech’s seeming turn against content moderation prevail in the face of European commitments to controlling hate speech and misinformation online? Can the quest for more open political debate survive the firewalling of populist parties in Europe? Can growth and development struggle free of environmental green tape and lawfare? And how best can agency and individual freedom be defended in the face of increasing incursions in the private sphere by officialdom? Is the trajectory towards scepticism of everything, from official fact-checkers to EDI, a sign that the tide is turning, especially with the young, keen to shake off their reputation as Generation Snowflake.
Clearly this is a moment of flux when we need to examine afresh many of the big, historically significant questions related to freedom and free speech.
Living Freedom Summer School 2025 is your chance to be involved in such debates. We’ll place recent trends in wider context through expert lectures on key developments in the history and philosophy of freedom; panel-led debates will cover contemporary challenges and hot topics of our time; workshops allow attendees to explore classic texts and ethical dilemmas.
In changing times, join us to assess the challenges and opportunities and to develop the arguments we need to make the 21st-century case for freedom.
Sessions include
· The Trump effect: step forward or setback for freedom?
· Privacy and Freedom: the rise and fall of private life
· Rule of law vs the rule of lawyers
· Young dissenters: how to fight back against conformism
· Any many more
Living Freedom is organised by Ideas Matter and supported by the Ian Mactaggart Programme administered by Free Speech Union
CAN YOU SUPPORT A LIVING FREEDOM SCHOLAR?
The cost of providing a place at the summer school is £500. However, each attendee will pay just £50, a massive reduction of £450. This is because Living Freedom uses a targeted scholarships programme that ensures that we can select attendees on merit, irrespective of their financial circumstances.
By supporting a Living Freedom scholar, you will play a vital part in encouraging a generational renewal of the values of freedom and free speech. Learn more about supporting a scholar through the link below.
LIVING FREEDOM FORUM
Friday 7 March, 7pm, Westminster
Our next in-person forum event is organised in association with Student Academics for Academic Freedom (SAFAF) and takes place in Westminster on Friday 7 March at 7pm.
Our panel of young thinkers and activists will reflect on the question of how to reclaim the university from the culture wars. How do students who wish to change campus culture navigate questions about intellectual independence and academic freedom? Has managerialism destroyed the university for good, or can it be reformed? What are the biggest problems facing the modern university? How can we in the 21st-century best harness the spirit of true intellectual endeavour, inside and outside the universities?
For more details and to register, see here.
OPEN TO ARGUMENT
Monday 10 March, Queen Mary University of London
‘Open to Argument’ is a new forum organised by Committee for Academic Freedom, in partnership with Queen Mary University of London AFAF and is dedicated to encouraging lively, intelligent, good-faith discussions on controversial topics.
The first debate on Monday 10 March is entitled ‘Will Trump's Second Presidency be Good or Bad for Academic Freedom?’ Panelists Eric Kaufmann, James Orr, Alan Sokal and Helen Pluckrose will examine Trump's ambitious plans for higher education, his sweeping executive orders on DEI and academic policy, and the broader implications of Trump 2.0 for free intellectual inquiry in universities.
The event is free to attend and takes place at Queen Mary University of London. Reserve a place here.
READ ON
With our summer school on the horizon, here’s a selection of reading to get you thinking.
Free Love? A Tentative Victory for Overnight Guests
Felice Basboll, University Times, 26 February 2025
‘If you genuinely think Trump is a fascist, go and have a lie down’
Tom Slater, spiked, 7 February 2025
How to revive our reading culture
Tiffany Jenkins, Engelsberg Ideas, 6 March 2025
The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023: The Student Response
JE Long, Student AFAF Substack, 18 January 2025
Britain’s information war on America
NS Lyons, 4 March 2025