Leading international freedom of expression organisation Index on Censorship and the Freedom Project at Wellesley College, Boston, are pleased to announce the launch of a new partnership to promote awareness of censorship.
The partnership includes a series of events at Wellesley College in early March and an annual Freedom of Expression keynote lecture, which this year will be given by Danish journalist and editor Flemming Rose on Thursday 9 March. Mr Rose, the editor who commissioned cartoons of the prophet Mohammed that sparked international controversy in 2006, is an international advocate for free speech and is the author of several books about his experiences with censorship and threats of violence. In 2015 Rose was awarded the prestigious Publicist Prize from Denmark’s national press club and received the Honor Award for defending free speech from the Norwegian Fritt Ord Foundation. In 2017 the University of Cape Town withdrew its invitation to Mr. Rose, who was set to give its annual TB Davie Academic Freedom Lecture for fear of “security risks” and the possibility of provoking conflict and further polarisation on campus.
As part of the new partnership, three students each year will enjoy a two month internship at Index on Censorship at their UK headquarters.