Free Expression, Pluralism, and the University

Explores how American higher education has grappled with the hard questions that live at the intersection of free expression, academic freedom, and the commitment to a diverse and inclusive learning environment. Discusses the history and law of free speech and academic freedom and considers the contemporary disputes that have arisen over these values. Studies the responses of American university communities (public and private) to these conflicts since the 1950s: the bitter contests over McCarthy-era loyalty oaths, the student-led civil rights and anti-Vietnam War protests of the 1960s, the hate speech codes of the 1990s, and today’s ongoing turf wars over so-called “cancel culture” and control of teaching and the curriculum.