Annual Meeting
Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship
SAFS 2025 Academic General Meeting
Friday June 6 – Saturday June 7 2025
Senate & Board Chambers
Wilfrid Laurier University
75 University Avenue W
Waterloo, Ontario
Registration:
Cost: $150 for Friday, $150 for Saturday ($300 for both) which includes the session and meals (dinner on Friday and breakfast and lunch on Saturday).
Registration fees may be paid through E-Transfer to payments@safs.ca
Through Visa or Mastercard: https://safs.ca/PaymentSecurity.php
Or by cheque made out to the Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship and sent to 2807 24th Avenue, Regina, SK S4S 1J7 (please email safs@safs.ca if you are mailing a cheque).
Any one who pays a multiple of $150.00 through these methods will be considered registered and contacted by the organizers. If you are paying for others please be sure to send their details to safs@safs.ca.
Please send any special dietary requests to safs@safs.ca before May 28th. Registration Deadline: May 22 2025.
View Schedule as PDF
Location: Senate and Board Chambers unless otherwise indicated.
Friday June 6 2025
1:30 – 2:00 pm
Registration and Coffee
2:00-4:00 pm
He Who Pays the Piper: How Government Funding Impacts Research
(Symposium generously sponsored by the Institute for Liberal Studies)
Senate & Board Chambers
The Failed Experiment: Government Funding of Academic Science
J. Scott TURNER, National Association of Scholars
Title
Terence KEALEY, University of Birmingham
4:00-5:00 pm
Cocktails (Hawk’s Nest)
5:30-7:00 pm
Dinner (Hawk’s Nest)
7:30-9:30 pm
The Seventh Annual Chris and John Furedy Lecture on the Contemporary University
Speaker: Amy Wax, University of Pennsylvania
Title: Radical Reactionary: Fixing Our Broken Education System
Archive of Previous AGMS:
Saturday June 7 2025
8:00-9:00 am
Registration and Coffee: Senate and Board Chambers
9:00-9:40 am
Welcoming Remarks: Robert Thomas, President, Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship
9:40-10:00 am
Speaker: Lisa Bildy, FSU Executive Director
Introducing the Free Speech Union Canada
10:00-11:00 am
Speakers: Rodney Clifton, University of Manitoba & Mark DeWolf
The Difficulty of Finding “Truth” in the Truth and Reconciliation Report
11:00 am -12:00 pm
Speaker: Bruce PARDY, Queen’s University
The Sanctum Menace: Why Universities Belong to the Dark Side
12:00-1:30 pm
Lunch (Dining Hall)
1:30 -3:00 pm
Keynote Address
Speakers: Amy Wax, University of Pennsylvania
Title: The Threats to Free Expression from within our Universities and Our Democracy
3:10-3:45 pm
4:00 pm to 6:00pm
Business Meeting (Members Only)
Casual Gathering (Location TBD)