Free Speech on Campus

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

Outline and Readings

Part 1. Introduction to the Course

Part 2. Four Tools for Analyzing Free Expression Controversies
*Important Note:* Please complete the readings in this Part before the first class.

Tool #1. Justifications for Free Expression
•Discovering Truth (The “Marketplace of Ideas”)
•Facilitating Participation by Citizens in Political Decision Making
•Assuring Individual Self-Fulfillment/Autonomy
•Creating a More Adaptable and Stable Community (The “Safety-Valve”)
•Promoting Tolerance

Click here for the readings (pdf). Please be prepared to:

•Explain and defend each justification
•Offer challenges to each
•Consider the value of each for campus speech

Tool #2. Free Expression in the Supreme Court (Doctrine)
•Overview of Free Expression Doctrine
•What is Speech?
•Is the Government Regulating Speech?
•Does the Speech Fall Into an Unprotected Category?
•Who is Speaking?
•Is the Regulation a Prior Restraint on Expression?
•Is the Regulation Vague or Overbroad?
•Is the Regulation Content-Neutral or Content-Based?

Click here for the readings (pdf). Please be prepared to:

•Summarize and discuss the doctrine
•Analyze the doctrine
•Consider gaps in the doctrine

Tool #3. Social Science Perspectives on Free Expression
•What People Say about Free Speech
•Why People Say What They Do (and Why Justices Vote as They Do)
•Strategies for Neutralizing Bias

Click here for the reading (pdf). Please be prepared to discuss patterns in the justices’ support for free speech. (In class, we’ll supply data from surveys of U.S. adults, including college students.)

Tool #4. Campus Speech and Academic Freedom in Historical Context

•Universities are a “They,” Not an “It”
•Brief History of Free Speech/Academic Freedom in Universities
•Major Statements Related to Free Speech

Click here for the readings (pdf). Also of interest may be WashU’s “Freedom of Expression” website, which houses policies, statements, and other other material related to free speech at the university.

Please be prepared to discuss and analyze the the AAUP’s statement on academic freedom and the University of Chicago’s statement on free speech

Part 3. Case Controversies
(You don’t need to click this link for the first class.)