Intellectual Freedom: A Panel Discussion

Setting the stage for the inaugural Campbell County Reads, local college professors will discuss the importance of intellectual freedom in our society today, as well as entertain questions from the audience.  Campbell County Reads will be exploring Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, whose themes feature a society stripped of its intellectual freedom and its grim result.

On Tuesday, October 5^th, at 6:30 pm, at the Campbell County Public Library, the following scholars will assemble to address the state and importance of intellectual freedom in our society.

Ted Hostetler, Director of Randolph College’s Lipscomb Library.  Published on the topic of intellectual freedom, Hostetler brings decades of collegiate library work to the panel. Hostetler has served as chairman of the Intellectual Freedom Committee for the Virginia Library Association.

Carrie Brown, author and professor of English at Sweet Briar College.  Brown, a greatly lauded author, has won multiple awards including National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, the Barnes and Noble Discover Award, and the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize. Her career began in journalism.

Dr. Dan Stiffler, Chairman of the English Department at Randolph College, teaching American Literature and Culture and Writing.  Stiffler has won recognition both at the college and from the United Methodist Church for his teaching prowess.  Stiffler’s philosophy of teaching, writing, and living is one of process and discovery.

Dr. Marybeth Davis, Assistant Professor of English at Liberty University, comments, “Access to information is only one criterion for intellectual freedom; without the ability to process that information, to make sense of it, and to relate it to one’s current situation, availability of information means very little

The public is invited to attend and ask questions of our panelists. Light refreshments will be served.  For more information, call Nan Carmack at the CCPLS, 434.332.9560 or visit www.campbellcountylibraries.org.