Delaware Humanities Lecture: The Right to Lie with Joan DelFattore
Thursday, August 1 | 6-7:30PM
Free Event
Registration not required, but encouraged
In this free-to-attend DE Humanities Lecture with speaker Joan DelFattore, delve into the complex issues of political lying and the constitutional protection of free speech. While there is a right to lie in political speech under the First Amendment, exceptions are put into place which can lead to consequences as false statements can result in penalties. After a Q&A, a discussion will follow to answer the following question: Has political lying reached to a point where it has disrupted the electoral system enough to enforce legal restrictions? Indulge in complex conversations and political discussions to uncover the subject of "The Right to Lie" in part The Circle of Truth Exhibition.
About Joan DelFattore (biography receieved from the DE Humanities website):
Joan DelFattore holds a Ph.D. in English and an M.S. in clinical psychology from Penn State University. She's professor emerita of English and legal studies at the University of Delaware, where she taught for more than thirty years. Her work on freedom of expression, including three books with Yale University Press and dozens of articles, has won awards from the American Library Association, and the Spencer Foundation, among others. In addition to giving talks all over the country, she's appeared on dozens of talk shows, notably 20/20, Radio Times, Fresh Air, Talk of the Nation, and the Diane Rehm Show. In 2014, she established a Writing as Healing program at the Christiana Care Health System in Delaware, teaching research-based techniques for using writing to reduce stress and improve the quality of life. The program has served more than 600 patients, caregivers, and staff, and sessions for physicians began in 2017.