Description
For decades, US colleges and universities have been stuck in an endless loop of confusing decisions, policies, and emotions about student speech on campus. Whether speech is allowed, censored, or sanctioned depends on who has decision making power rather than campus-community norms that protect learning for students.
Download this Resource
Topic
- Freedom to Teach & Learn, Academic Freedom
Resource Type
- Discussion Guide
- Handout (with instructions)
Time Commitment
- Less than an hour
Materials Needed
Create two handouts that can be distributed in advance: (1) Perspectives and (2) a brief primer on the First Amendment.
Recommended or Required Reading
Sunstein, Cass R. Campus Free Speech: A Pocket Guide. Harvard University Press, 2024
Thomas, Nancy “Educating for Democracy in Undemocratic Contexts: Avoiding the Zero-Sum Game of Campus Free Speech Versus Inclusion” eJournal of Public Affairs, vol. 7 no. 7, 2018, pp 81-107. https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/ejopa/vol7/iss1/5/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Special Instructions
This exercise is derived from a longer guide, designed for a longer and more sustained discussion, available at https://dgmg81phhvh63.cloudfront.net/content/user-photos/Initiatives/IDHE/Free-expression-and-inclusion-guide.pdf. The longer version spends more time on institutional policy, laws, and changing campus norms. This exercise is not designed to mobilize action, but it could become that with more time.