Stanley Fish to Deliver Hugo Black Lecture Feb. 18

On Feb. 18, Stanley Fish will deliver the 25th annual Hugo L. Black Lecture on Freedom of Expression. The title of his talk is, “Micro-aggressions, Trigger Warnings, Cultural ‘Appropriations’ and History: What’s Happening on Campus?” The talk begins at 8 p.m. in Memorial Chapel.

Fish is the Davidson-Kahn Distinguished University Professor and professor of law at Florida International University; Floersheimer Professor of Law at Cardozo Law School; Emeritus Professor of English and Law at Duke University; and Dean Emeritus of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Distinguished Professor of English, Criminal Justice and Political Science at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He earned a BA from the University of Pennsylvania in 1959, and a MA and PhD from Yale University in 1960 and 1962. He has previously taught at the University of California at Berkeley (1962-74); Johns Hopkins University (1974-85), where he was the Kenan Professor of English and Humanities; and Duke University, where he was Arts and Sciences Professor of English and Professor of Law (1985-1998). From 1993 through 1998 he served as Executive Director of the Duke University Press.

Fish writes regularly on The Huffington Post.

The lecture, named in honor of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Hugo L. Black, is offered annually and endowed by Leonard S. Halpert ’44. The series is designed to bring to the Wesleyan campus distinguished public figures and scholars with experience and expertise in matters related to the First Amendment and freedom of expression.