This Mellon-Sawyer winter quarter seminar will be focus on “dissensus” as the backbone of democratic cultures. Dissensus highlights not only dissenting speech/actions but also, more broadly, civil debate as constitutive of democratic cultures. At the university, dissensus is predicated on the flourishing of university spaces protected by academic freedom protects, and by access to independent media that cultivates and fosters debate. Unpacking particular dimensions of dissensus necessary for multiracial diversity, we ask: What are forms of responsible speech and action attuned to racial harms? What spaces of dissensus allow a wide range of perspectives? The seminar will delve into political histories of the independent media, university libraries, and UCSB archives of dissent to understand present attacks on critical university spaces under rising authoritarianism regimes. The assault on press freedoms, for instance, has meant an increasing social fragmentation of the infosphere and shrinking spaces of democratic participation. Moving beyond policies and protocols, how can we rethink what “freedom” means “academic freedom” at the university? Exploring special collections, exhibitions, and histories of research-based programs (like newsreels and community radio) at UCSB, this seminar considers the interface of academic and non-academic publics. 

The seminar will meet on Fridays 10-1  in the winter quarter, except for the weeks in which there is a public program or a guest speaker on campus. The winter program will host:

• Roundtable on January 28, 4:00-6:00 featuring Hannah Allam (The Washington Post) and Patricia Peña Miranda (Fundación Datos Protegidos) at the Library Room 1312 
• Public lecture on February 18, 5:00-7:00 by Emily Drabinski (former president of the American Library Association) at the Library Special Collections. 
• A workshop with UCSB librarian, Anne Cong-Huyen and a class visit with Elizabeth Robinson (KCSB radio program, co-creator of the Robinson Archive).  

Student participants in the seminar develop their own public-facing projects, individually or collectively. We are flexible about what could be. Here are some ideas: curate a podcast series (interview guest speakers) or an exhibit on UCSB protest movements; build a “collection” from UCSB archives such as the Ethnic Studies Collection or KCSB Robinson archive; collaborate on research projects on social justice, education, and the (local or global) cultures of democracy.