March 01, 2021
A New Year, A New Cohort!
by IfRFA Team
Hi there, friends.
It’s been almost a year since our lives were altered so drastically due to our current pandemic. Many of us have had to transform our entire way of being as some lost jobs, changed jobs, and we all continue to struggle with the daily lives of being remote, and for many physically so far away from family and/or friends. We’re so unconditionally thankful for your support and interest in IfRFA as we also continue to navigate in how to engage in meaningful ways with our colleagues.
What’s happening now:
After reviewing tons of outstanding applications, we’re excited to announce that we have chosen 5 fellows for our summer 2021 fellowship program!
Meet Will Merriweather, Nirali Vyas, Iltaff Bala, Makela Hayford, and Elias Schmidt, the incredible fellows that comprise our summer 2021 cohort. We could not be more excited for them to have the opportunity to explore a range of freedom of expression issues during the upcoming summer!
What’s up next:
We are pleased to announce that we’ve added a new member to our advisory board: say hello to Meenakshi Krishnan! Meenakshi joins us from Davis Wright Tremaine LLP where she is an Associate in the Media Law and First Amendment practice. Previously, Meenakshi was a 2019-2020 Legal Fellow at the Knight First Amendment Institute and clerked for the Hon. James A. Wynn, Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. We are so excited to have her on board!
Additionally, the exceptional Khaled Beydoun has joined our team as our first scholar-in-residence. Khaled is a law professor at the Wayne State University School of Law and serves as the Associate Director of the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights in Detroit. Khaled also comments on issues of timely importance in the popular press, and his insights have been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the BBC, and the Guardian.
What’s on our minds:
As we’re looking into the spring, we’re reflecting on our incredible conversation with Khaled Beydoun and Justin Hansford on critical race theory and the First Amendment. Recorded on January 6, 2021 (before the capital insurrection), Justin and Khaled shared some of their work on how to conceptualize a more representative First Amendment. To be honest, it feels worth revisiting as we think about the aftermath of platforms banning Donald Trump. You can revisit that video here.
Based on that, we’re also thinking about what further events we can hold to focus on areas in First Amendment work that get left out of the mainstream. Know of a scholar we should talk to or a topic you’d like to see an event on? Email us!
Best,
Kendra, Sybil & Jasjot.
It’s been almost a year since our lives were altered so drastically due to our current pandemic. Many of us have had to transform our entire way of being as some lost jobs, changed jobs, and we all continue to struggle with the daily lives of being remote, and for many physically so far away from family and/or friends. We’re so unconditionally thankful for your support and interest in IfRFA as we also continue to navigate in how to engage in meaningful ways with our colleagues.
What’s happening now:
After reviewing tons of outstanding applications, we’re excited to announce that we have chosen 5 fellows for our summer 2021 fellowship program!
Meet Will Merriweather, Nirali Vyas, Iltaff Bala, Makela Hayford, and Elias Schmidt, the incredible fellows that comprise our summer 2021 cohort. We could not be more excited for them to have the opportunity to explore a range of freedom of expression issues during the upcoming summer!
What’s up next:
We are pleased to announce that we’ve added a new member to our advisory board: say hello to Meenakshi Krishnan! Meenakshi joins us from Davis Wright Tremaine LLP where she is an Associate in the Media Law and First Amendment practice. Previously, Meenakshi was a 2019-2020 Legal Fellow at the Knight First Amendment Institute and clerked for the Hon. James A. Wynn, Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. We are so excited to have her on board!
Additionally, the exceptional Khaled Beydoun has joined our team as our first scholar-in-residence. Khaled is a law professor at the Wayne State University School of Law and serves as the Associate Director of the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights in Detroit. Khaled also comments on issues of timely importance in the popular press, and his insights have been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the BBC, and the Guardian.
What’s on our minds:
As we’re looking into the spring, we’re reflecting on our incredible conversation with Khaled Beydoun and Justin Hansford on critical race theory and the First Amendment. Recorded on January 6, 2021 (before the capital insurrection), Justin and Khaled shared some of their work on how to conceptualize a more representative First Amendment. To be honest, it feels worth revisiting as we think about the aftermath of platforms banning Donald Trump. You can revisit that video here.
Based on that, we’re also thinking about what further events we can hold to focus on areas in First Amendment work that get left out of the mainstream. Know of a scholar we should talk to or a topic you’d like to see an event on? Email us!
Best,
Kendra, Sybil & Jasjot.