Upcoming Speaking Engagements [Updated and Reposted]

Ilya Somin's speaking engagements for the Spring 2022 semester. Many are free and open to the public, and most will (hopefully) be in person.

NOTE: I have reposted this list, because there have been many changes, including the addition of several new events, and the postponement of two others until the 2022-23 academic year.

Below is a list of my upcoming speaking engagements for the next six months or so. Unless otherwise noted, all events are free and open to the public—and in person. But those at universities are subject to their rules about on-campus access during the Covid pandemic. Those rules vary and may change over time. If you are not a student or faculty member at the relevant institution, you may wish to contact the university in question to ask about details on that front. Obviously, depending on the course of the pandemic, some in-person events may be shifted online or cancelled. I will update this post if that happens. I am guardedly optimistic the events will go forward. But it's hard to know for sure, at this time.

I will add additional events and information to this post, over time. In the meantime if your university, think tank, research institute or other similar organization would like to invite me to speak (either virtually or in person) on any topic within my expertise, I am open for business! You can get an overview of the issues I write and speak about at my website.

Unless otherwise noted, all times for in-person events refer to local time at the site, while times for virtual events refer to US eastern time.

January 20, 12:00-1 PM:  "Voting With Your Feet: How Freedom to Move Can Improve Governance," R Street Institute, Washington, DC (with moderation and commentary by Jonathan Bydlak, Director, Governance Program, R Street Institute). This is a virtual event. You can sign up to view it for free here. The R Street Institute will be giving out 5 copies of my book Free to Move: Foot Voting, Migration, and Political Freedom, to randomly selected participants.

January 27, 12:30-1:30 PM: "Free to Move: Foot Voting, Migration, and Political Freedom," Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, DC. With commentary by Prof. David Schleicher (Yale Law School), Prof. Sheila Foster (Georgetown), and Dean Rose Cuison-Villazor (Rutgers). Virtual event. You can  register to attend at the event website here.

January 28, time TBA: "Immigration and the Economic Liberty of Natives," New York University School of Law, New York, NY (Symposium on Immigration). Unfortunately, this is a virtual event, by invitation only. But I expect NYU law students and faculty will be allowed to attend.

February 3, 11-12 AM (US eastern time): "Free to Move: Foot Voting, Migration, and Political Freedom," University of Essex, United Kingdom (virtual event). As I understand it, this will be open to students and faculty of the University of Essex.

February 3, 3:20-4:45 PM (tentative time): "Nondelegation Limits on Covid Emergency Powers: Lessons from the Eviction Moratorium and Title 42 Cases," Panel on "Covid and the Feds: Moratoria, Mandates, and More," NYU Journal of Law and Liberty/Pacific Legal Foundation Symposium on Emergency Powers, Mayflower Hotel, Washington, DC.

February 21, 4-5:50 PM: "Federalism and Freedom," Seminar on "Modern Conservative Legal Thought," Boston College Law School, Boston, MA (virtual event). This event is limited to students enrolled in the seminar.

February 24, 12-1:15 PM: "Free to Move: Foot Voting, Migration, and Political Freedom," University of Wisconsin Law School, Madison, WI (sponsored by the U of Wisconsin Federalist Society).

February 25, 9 AM- Noon (approximate time): "Foot Voting, Ballot Box Voting, and Rational Ignorance," Panel on "The Rationality of Voting," American Philosophical Association, Central Division Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL. The other panelists are Julia Maskivker (Rollins College) and Zach Barnett (National University of Singapore). This event is only open to participants in the APA meeting.

March 1, 12-1:15 PM (tentative time): "Vaccine Passports as a Constitutional Right," faculty workshop, Georgetown University Law Center (with Kevin Cope). I expect this event will only be open to Georgetown faculty.

March 10, 5-6 PM: "Justice and the Russia-Ukraine War," panel on "Justice, International Law, and the War in Ukraine." Scalia Law School, George Mason University, Rm. 121, 3301 Fairfax Dr., Arlington, VA. (Sponsored by the George Mason Federalist Society).

March 15, 12-1 PM: "Free to Move: Foot Voting, Migration, and Political Freedom," University of Alberta. Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

March, 15,  6-9 PM (tentative time): "The Case for 'Normal' Judicial Review of the Exercise of Emergency Powers" Edmonton Legal Forum, Edmonton, Alberta. This event also has several other speakers. My understanding is that only members of the Edmonton Legal Forum can attend.

March 17 [postponed until the Fall 2022 semester, due to Covid restrictions]: "Free to Move: Foot Voting, Migration, and Political Freedom," University of Calgary. Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

March 17, 12:25-1:45 PM, "How Protecting Property Rights Helps Minorities and the Poor," Duke Law School, Durham, NC (sponsored by Duke Federalist Society). Rm. 4049. More details on this event here.

March 18, 3-4:15 PM: "Guns, Takings, and Property Rights," panel on "Private Property and Gun Regulation." Conference on "Privatizing the Gun Debate," Duke Law School, Durham, NC. Sponsored by the Duke Center for Firearms Law. Other participants in the panel are Ian Ayres (Yale), Julia Mahoney (Univ. of Virgina), and Fred Vars (Univ. of Alabama).

March 22, 3-4:30 PM: "Free to Move: Foot Voting, Migration, and Political Freedom," American Enterprise Institute, Washington, DC. With commentary by Prof. Filipe Campante (Johns Hopkins University) and Emily Hamilton (Senior Research Fellow, Mercatus Center, George Mason University). See the event page here.

March 25, 12-1 PM (tentative time): "Immigration and the Economic Liberty of Natives," PPE Workshop, Georgetown University, Washington, DC. I expect this event will be open only to Georgetown faculty and students.

March 29 [Postponed to October 6]: "Free to Move: Foot Voting, Migration, and Political Freedom," Political Theory Project, Brown University, Providence, RI.

April 5, time TBA, but probably around noon: "Free to Move: Foot Voting, Migration, and Political Freedom," Columbia Law School, New York, NY (sponsored by the Columbia Federalist Society).

April 7, 5 PM: "Democracy and Political Ignorance: Why Smaller Government is Smarter," Kelley School of Business, University of Indiana, Bloomington, IN.

April 15, 12-1 PM: "Migration Rights Under Biden," Keynote Speech, Conference on "Immigration in the Biden Era," University of California, Davis School of Law, Davis, CA (sponsored by  the UC Davis Immigration and Nationality Law Review).

April 20, Time TBA: "Free to Move: Foot Voting, Migration, and Political Freedom," Coastal Carolina University, Conway, SC.

April 27, time TBA: "Is the Supreme Court Politicized?" conference on
"The Politicization of SCOTUS in the 2021-22 Term" Siena College, Loudonville, NY (tentative title).

May 30, 5-6:30 PM: "Democracy and Political Ignorance: Why Smaller Government is Smarter," Seminar Room, Corpus Christi College, Oxford University, Oxford, United Kingdom (sponsored by the Oxford Hayek Society).

May 31, 4-6 PM:"Free to Move: Foot Voting, Migration, and Political Freedom," King's College, Council Room, Level 2, Strand Campus, London, United Kingdom. See here for additional details and registration.

June 1, 1-2 PM: "Free to Move: Foot Voting, Migration, and Political Freedom," Institute of Economic Affairs, London, United Kingdom.

June 2 (tentative date), Time TBA: "Democracy, Foot Voting, and Knowledge" (tentative title), Conference on "Experts, Citizens, and Knowledge Problems in Democracy," King's College, London, United Kingdom.