Lawyer and philosopher Julie Van Camp '69 will lead several campus discussions on censorship and the arts.
Julie Van Camp '69, professor of philosophy at California State University (CSU), Long Beach, and an attorney, will lead a series of campus discussions focusing on censorship and the arts on Monday, October 25 (the date was listed incorrectly in the last issue of the CSJ). The philosophy department and the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum are sponsoring the series.
An open lunch conversation, "Censorship: Mayor Giuliani vs. Brooklyn Museum," led by Van Camp at noon in the art museum lobby, will kick off the events. This discussion will be followed by an open class titled "Representing the Virgin Mary and Censorship" given by Professor of Art Michael Davis and Van Camp at the Art Building, Room 216, at 1:30 pm. The forum will close with a lecture by Van Camp titled "Have Artists Won the Battle and Lost the War?: Philosophical Reflections on NEA v. Finley." The lecture will be at 4:30 pm in Room 210, Skinner Hall.
"After a decade of controversy at the National Endowment for the Arts, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision in June 1998, NEA v. Finley, which held that it does not violate the First Amendment for Congress to require the National Endowment for the Arts to consider 'decency' in funding art," says Van Camp. "In my talk I will consider the problems with this decision and its implications for the free speech of artists. I also consider the historic consideration by philosophers since Plato of the dangers of art and the supposed justification of censorship of the arts. I also will look at the current controversy at the Brooklyn Museum and the issues in determining whether government support is justifiable for such exhibits."
After graduating from MHC, Van Camp, earned a Ph.D. in philosophy from Temple University, Philadelphia, specializing in the philosophy of art. She holds a J.D. cum laude from Georgetown University, where she specialized in art law. Van Camp received CSU Long Beach's distinguished faculty teaching award for 1998 - 99. She developed a new prelaw program in philosophy in 1994, with several new courses, including an interdisciplinary/human diversity course Race, Ethnicity, and Gender in American Law, an interdisciplinary course Law, Philosophy, and the Humanities, and a Prelaw Philosophy Internship. In spring 1998, she taught a course titled Philosophy of Art entirely on the Internet, with students from all over the world. Van Camp's primary research interests are philosophical problems presented by art law, especially freedom of expression for artists and issues surrounding intellectual property.
Van Camp has a Web site, "Freedom of Expression at the National Endowment for the Arts," which was originally funded by the American Bar Association and has been on-line since early 1996. Its main focus is to provide interdisciplinary educational materials for undergraduate classrooms on art, law, and philosophy, but it is often visited by artists, high school students, and the general public interested in free speech for the arts. Visit the site at http://www. csulb.edu/~jvancamp/intro.html.
In conjunction with the forum, LITS has organized a exhibition celebrating intellectual freedom. A small display is located in the library's entrance, and resources are available on a supporting Web page located at http://www.mtholyoke. edu/lits/library/intellectualfreedom.html.
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