Claire Fox
director, Academy of Ideas; independent peer, House of Lords; author, I STILL Find That Offensive!
Claire Fox is the director of the Academy of Ideas, which she established to create a public space where ideas can be contested without constraint. She convenes the yearly Battle of Ideas festival and initiated the Debating Matters Competition for sixth-formers. She also co-founded a residential summer school, The Academy, with the aim to demonstrate ‘university as it should be’.
In May 2019, she was elected as an MEP for the North West England constituency of the UK in the European Parliament elections. In 2020, she was made a visiting professor in professional practice at the University of Buckingham. In September 2020, Claire became a member of the House of Lords as Baroness Fox of Buckley.
Claire is frequently invited to comment on developments in culture, education, media and free speech issues on TV and radio programmes in the UK such as Newsnight and Any Questions? She has been a regular newspaper reviewer on Sky News and is a monthly columnist for MJ (Municipal Journal). She was the longest standing panelist on BBC Radio 4’s The Moral Maze for over 20 years until 2020. She is author of a book on free speech, recently republished as I STILL Find That Offensive! (Biteback, 2018), and No Strings Attached! Why arts funding should say no to instrumentalism (Arts&Business, 2007). She has written a variety of chapters and essays for a range of publications, most recently ‘Narcissism and Identity’ in From Self to Selfie: A Critique of Contemporary Forms of Alienation (Palgrave Macmillan, 2019).
Follow Claire on Twitter @Fox_Claire.
RELATED SESSIONS
Saturday 15 October, 09:45 Assembly Hall, Church House
Battle of Ideas 2022 Welcome Address
Saturday 15 October, 10:15 Assembly Hall, Church House
Do the culture wars matter?
Saturday 15 October, 10:15 Room 512, Church House
Cop out: who do the police serve today?
Saturday 15 October, 12:15 Room 512, Church House
From the ECHR to the Supreme Court: judges vs politics
Saturday 15 October, 12:15 Hoare Memorial Hall, Church House
Is cancel culture killing the arts?
Saturday 15 October, 14:45 Hoare Memorial Hall, Church House
Lawfare: the use and abuse of law to fight for freedom
Saturday 15 October, 14:45 Robert Runcie Room, Church House
SKILLS WORLD LIVE: SHOULD BRITS WORK HARDER, OR SMARTER?
Saturday 15 October, 16:45 Convocation Hall, Church House
US Midterms: can America survive the culture wars?
Saturday 15 October, 18:15 55 Broadway, London SW1H 0BD
Festival reception and drinks
Sunday 16 October, 11:00 Hoare Memorial Hall, Church House
The trans teen trend: a case of social contagion?
Sunday 16 October, 11:00 Room 511, Church House
Are schools indoctrinating our kids?
Sunday 16 October, 12:45 Abbey Room, Church House
The political image: in conversation with photographer Stuart Mitchell
Sunday 16 October, 13:45 Assembly Hall, Church House
Free speech or compelled speech: is silence violence?
Sunday 16 October, 13:45 Room 511, Church House
Revolting parents: lessons from the schoolgates
Sunday 16 October, 15:45 Room 511, Church House
Beyond the birds and the bees: modern sex ed
Sunday 16 October, 15:45 Hoare Memorial Hall, Church House
Identity politics: just skin deep?
Sunday 16 October, 17:15 Assembly Hall, Church House
Call to courage: winning the battle of ideas
Sunday 16 October, 17:15 Hoare Memorial Hall, Church House
The New Puritans: How the religion of social justice captured the Western world
Wednesday 19 October, 18:30 Bayes Business School, 106 Bunhill Row, London, EC1Y 8TZ
Is it becoming impossible to be contrarian?
Saturday 5 November, 14:55 Devonshire Dome - DO/G04
Online politics: people power or social-media cesspit?
Saturday 5 November, 16:30 Devonshire Dome - DO/G16-18
Call to courage: is anything worth fighting for?