Do you know an outstanding student, event, or student group that deserves to be recognized? Nominations for the 9th Annual International Students For Liberty Conference (ISFLC) Award Ceremony are now open! Submit your choice for Student, Event, and Student Group of the Year now!

The ISFLC Award Ceremony is one of the highlights of the conference every year, recognizing the best in libertarian student activism. What makes the ceremony especially exciting is that the winners are nominated and voted by students like yourself.

This year’s ceremony will be particularly special because we’re adding a whole Awards Dinner program to the ISFLC schedule. Finalists will not only get complimentary registration to ISFLC16 but will also be admitted to the dinner hosted by P. J. O’Rourke — a $250 value! And, yes, you can nominate yourself.

Don’t miss your chance to choose this year’s winner. Nominate your selections by January 20th!

Wondering what to expect at the Ama-gi Art Show?

Now in it’s third year, the ISFLC art experience has only gotten bigger and better since it’s inception. Each show is shaped by the unique variety of pieces and performances that you submit, so it’s hard to know what 2016 will look like as those continue to come in. But in the meantime, here’s a look at how Shiyan Sadik Ishti and Ibrahim Kamrul Shafin kicked off the performance portion of the first Ama-gi Art Show back in 2014. Check it out:

As you can see, there are many meanings of liberty — and many ways to showcase the beauty of human freedom and the passion of those who seek it. Whether you’re inspired by the songs that strengthened earlier generations as they strove for independence and self-determination, or find your fullest expression of freedom in the more avant-garde side of art, Ama-gi has a slot for you.

We’ve extended the deadline for submissions to January 4th — so you’ve got just over two weeks to send us your most creative work. This can be any form of visual, literary, or auditory media, or a proposal for a live performance live the one you just saw. And keep in mind that submissions do not have to be explicitly or overtly libertarian to be considered, as long as they express some facet of the aesthetic beauty of liberty!

We’ll also be sharing more of the 2014 performances over the next two weeks on the SFL Facebook page, so look out for those to get an even better idea of just how diverse and exhilarating the Ama-gi Art Show promises to be!

When we announced a few months ago that P.J O’Rourke would keynote the 2016 ISFLC, we mentioned a few of his wildly popular books, including Eat the Rich and Give War a Chance.  Now, as the conference quickly approaches, we’re excited to share that Mr. O’Rourke has just released another book – a collection of his greatest (and funniest) work! 

Looking back on five decades as a journalist and humorist, Thrown Under the Omnibus offers an anthology of O’Rourke’s best stories hand-picked by the man himself. From laugh-out-loud satirical essays to bitingly insightful political analysis, this book has it all. In the introduction, P.J. looks back on this body of work and notes that, “I start out making fun of a second-rate American president and wind up making fun of a second-rate American president.” The more things change, the more they stay the same – O’Rourke’s brilliance is no exception.

In fact, what’s most amazing about this thick anthology is how well it displays O’Rourke’s commitment to his “pants-down Republican” style. While the rest of the writing world was doing up a few of their shirt buttons, P.J. was unafraid to keep telling it like he saw it, in striking detail and artful prose. It’s an approach the Wall Street Journal has dubbed “Laughing in the Face of Despair.” Reviewer Dave Shiflett relates this exemplary anecdote:

Of greater delight are his takedowns of the smug drones who insist they know The True Way. In 1982, Mr. O’Rourke infiltrated an entire boatload of such people who were engaged in the heroic work of taking a “peace” cruise down the Volga River. Our correspondent was truly a fish out of water. Among other things he considered socialism “a violation of the American principle that you shouldn’t stick your nose in other people’s business except to make a buck.” His fellow travelers, on the other hand, were fans of the Soviet state, then under the enlightened leadership of longtime KGB thug Yuri Andropov.Yet Mr. O’Rourke, exercising profound investigative skill, spotted the chink in their ideological armor. These “were people who believed everything about the Soviet Union was perfect, but they were bringing their own toilet paper.” Small details reveal large truths.

This ability to cut through the bullshit and to reveal truth through humor are sorely needed in today’s world, especially among young people who every day sound more and more like the sorely misguided “peace cruisers.”

We’re more than thrilled to have such an insightful mind on the main stage at ISFLC! If you haven’t yet, make sure to register before prices go up at the end of the month, and pick up a copy of Thrown Under the Omnibus today for a taste of what’s to come!

To give you a taste of what to expect at the 2016 International Students For Liberty Conference, here’s a look back at last year’s event from SFL Blog Team member Anne Butcher.

It has been exactly one month since the 2015 International Students For Liberty Conference in DC, and in this time I’ve reflected on why this conference (and Students For Liberty), has been so unique and inspiring to me. The 2015 ISFLC marked my third ISFLC. ISFLC number 3 was quite different: it was in a different venue, I was (finally) 21, and there were even bigger names (cough cough Snowden and Ron Paul cough cough). However, those simple descriptions aren’t enough to fully describe my 2015 ISFLC experience.

It would be easy to list all the talks I went to, such as Jonathan Blanks, Aaron Powell, and Trevor Burrus discuss police violence, or a panel of Young Voices Advocates give advice on becoming a libertarian writer, or Isaac Morehouse and TK Coleman give an awesome talk on “voting for yourself”. No doubt, there were plenty of other people far wiser than me who imparted their wisdom throughout the weekend, but that’s not what I want to focus on. Hearing talks from influential libertarians is always a great opportunity, but the most important thing about the ISFLC is always the “student” element. The ISFLC wouldn’t have the same effect it does on so many if not for the hundreds of student attendees who may not have big names, but ultimately make the experience what it is. (more…)