Free Speech on Campus

Professor Lee Epstein and Chancellor Andrew D. Martin
Political Science 334
Spring 2025

Grades and Learning Outcomes

Grades

Grades will be based on class attendance and participation (75%) and a short essay (25%).

Attendance and Participation. You must attend both class sessions, and you should come prepared to discuss the assigned materials. Please read all the materials before class on February 28, 2025.

Essay. We’d like you to tackle the following problem. Suppose you’re an advisor to WashU’s Chancellor. Based on what you’ve learned in this course (including all the readings), would you advise the Chancellor to pursue a policy of neutrality, reject neutrality, or adopt something in between?

Detailed instructions are here.

As the instructions note:

  1. Your essay should be no longer than 3 pages (including any references), double-spaced with 1-inch margins, using 12-point Times New Roman (or another serif) font.

  2. Feel free to use any materials you want but be sure to reference them appropriately. Any citation style is fine as long as we can identify the source.

  3. You should not collaborate (or discuss the exam) with your classmates (or any other humans for that matter). It's OK to use AI (e.g., ChatGPT) but if you incorporate any information it generates please cite it as you would any other source.

  4. Your grade will be based on your understanding of institutional neutrality and the strength of the justifications provided for your recommendation to the Chancellor. Additionally, essays that are well-organized, clear, and to the point will earn higher scores.

  5. Please email your essay to your TA by Friday March 21, 2025 by 5 pm central time (your TA is the law student who led your section on March 1, 2025). Essays will be marked down (from, e.g., an A to an A-) for each day late—including essays received after 5 pm on March 21, 2025.

  • Zej Moczydlowski, m.zej@wustl.edu (White Supremacists Speakers)

  • Nareh Derhartounian, d.nareh@wustl.edu (Provocateurs at Commencement)

  • Tylah Gantt, g.tylah@wustl.edu (What to Do About Student Hecklers)

  • Ethan Knoll, e.knoll@wustl.edu (The Pronoun Dispute)

  • Perri Wilson, perri@wustl.edu (The Controversy Over Academic Freedom at Penn)

Learning Outcomes

  1. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of the major justifications (theories) for free speech

  2. Evaluate doctrines governing free speech that are relevant to campus controversies

  3. Recognize the extent to which non-legalistic factors—especially political values and bias—affect how people (including judges) evaluate free speech claims

  4. Apply your knowledge to contemporary free-speech campus controversies

  5. Consider how theory and doctrine should inform university policies on free speech