Please join us!
The Antagonism and Intimidation in Academia Speaker Series is offering its final panel session on Monday, January 12, 2026. This January session focuses on issues relating to free speech, hate speech laws, and freedom of expression in and beyond university environments. It brings significant attention to the wealth and poverty of free speech, to university conduct under the rubric of expanding freedom of expression, and to matters concerning the banning of symbols, flags, and insignia under hate speech laws.
This panel is supported by the Office of the Vice-President, Research and International and the Provost's Office. Students, staff, faculty, alumni, and retirees of the University of Waterloo are invited to attend this in-person event. This event, organized by Dr. Suzan Ilcan, Professor of Sociology and University Research Chair, will be moderated by Dr. Shana MacDonald, Associate Professor of Communication Arts at the University of Waterloo.
The panel includes:
- Dr. Honor Brabazon (Associate Professor, Legal Studies, St. Jerome’s University in the University of Waterloo)
- Dr. Allyson Lunny (Associate Professor, Law & Society, York University)
- Dr. Alexie Tcheuyap (Professor, French; Dean of the Faculty of Arts, University of Waterloo)
Event details
Date: Monday, January 12, 2026
Time: 3:00 to 4:25 p.m., reception to follow from 4:30 to 5:00 p.m.
Location: East Campus (EC) 5, room 1027
Please register to attend, as seating is limited, and registration will close when capacity is reached.
About the panelists:
Dr. Honor Brabazon is an Associate Professor of Legal Studies at St. Jerome’s University in the University of Waterloo. Her research explores the role of law in neoliberal thought and policy, particularly in relation to reconfigurations of public debate and dissent. She is the editor of Neoliberal Legality: Understanding the Role of Law in the Neoliberal Project (Routledge).
Dr. Allyson Lunny is an Associate Professor of Law & Society at the Department of Social Science, York University. Her work focuses on hate crime/ hate speech, law and sexuality, and Canadian criminal justice. She is the author of Debating Hate Crime: Language, Legislature, and the Law in Canada (University of British Columbia Press).
Dr. Alexie Tcheuyap is a Professor of French and Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Waterloo. His research focuses on media studies, Francophone African literatures, and Francophone African cinemas. He served as Senior Fellow of the European Institutes for Advanced Study and is an elected member of the Royal Society of Canada. He is the author of African Documentary Cinema (Routledge).
About the moderator:
Dr. Shana MacDonald is O’Donovan Chair in Communication Across the Curriculum and Associate Professor in Communication Arts at the University of Waterloo. Her interdisciplinary research studies feminist, queer, and anti-racist social and digital media, and the rise of online hate and disinformation. She is the author of The Art of Memes in Feminist Digital Culture (Ohio State University Press).