Syllabus: Freedom of Speech (Undergraduate)

Stephen Smith
430 Kimpel
Libertas@comp.uark.edu
Fall 1995

COMMUNICATION 4393
FREEDOM OF SPEECH

SCOPE OF THE COURSE.  This is a course for students interested in the history, philosophy, theory, legal rights, and ethical responsibilities regarding freedom of expression.  The primary focus of the readings, lectures, and class discussions will be upon freedom of thought, conscience, and opinion and the individual's right to receive information and express ideas (or, conversely, avoid exposure to communication and refrain from compelled expression) protected by the First Amendment's guarantees of freedom of speech, press, religion, petition, and assembly.
	Students completing the course with satisfactory performance should gain:  (1) an understanding of the historical antecedents of freedom of expression as it has developed in Western culture since circa 800 B. C.; (2) an appreciation of various philosophical perspectives underlying communication rights; (3) knowledge of the constitutional foundations, statutory provisions, and court decisions regarding and affecting freedom of expression; (4) a concern for the ethical considerations facing the communicator; and (5) exposure to the parameters of future issues presented by changing communication technology.

REQUIRED READING.  Each student should obtain copies of and will be responsible for the contents of Thomas L. Tedford, Freedom of Speech in the United States, 2nd. ed. (New York:  McGraw-Hill, 1993) and Dale A. Herbeck, ed., Free Speech Yearbook, Volume 32 (Carbondale:  Southern Illinois University Press, 1995).  You will also be required to read electronic materials and documents; if you have not used your e-mail account, you should activate it immediately (today).  Members of the class will be enrolled on the Amend1-L free speech discussion list, and you will find much of interest on the free speech section of the American Communication Association's web site at http://cavern.uark.edu/comminfo/www/ACA.html.

OFFICE HOURS.  My office is in 430 Kimpel Hall.  I will be available for student conferences regarding this class on Monday and Tuesday afternoons and at other times if necessary; appointments are easy to schedule.  You are encouraged to make frequent appointments to discuss this course and your research interests in freedom of speech.  I can be reached most easily by e-mail (Libertas@comp.uark.edu), but you should also feel free to call me at any time you have questions about the course content--day, night, weekends--at my office (575-5954) or at home (443-9706).

EVALUATION OF PERFORMANCE.  Students are expected to read all assigned materials; attend all scheduled classes; make informed contributions to the class discussion; demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the important events, cases, and principles related to freedom of expression; and, for superior students, conduct original research on a significant First Amendment issue.  All students will be responsible for the two required texts and the materials covered in lectures.  Grades will be assigned on the basis of two examinations (100 points) and a final paper or project (50 points).
	The lecture/discussion design of this course places a premium on informed and robust participation which assumes that you have read the assigned materials and have given some thought to the implications of the principles.  I have fairly well developed views on all of the issues to be raised in this course, but those opinions may not always be obvious in the Socratic questioning in class.  You are expected to be interested enough in the subject to develop your own views and capable enough to defend those views with arguments solidly based in philosophy and law.  This is a class which requires significant reading and mature thinking.
	The research paper may focus on any aspect of freedom of expression, and the approach may be historical, theoretical, philosophical, legal, or empirical; however, you will find it helpful to discuss the topic and approach with the instructor in advance.  The papers should pose important research questions, present original research, offer communication implications argued from solid data, be 2500-4000 words in length (10-16 double-spaced pages of text), and be written according to the stylistic and documentation standards of either the Chicago Manual of Style or A Uniform System of Citation (Harvard Blue Book).  This paper is due on the date of the final examination.
	As an alternative to the research paper, students will have the option of collecting materials (cases, documents, bibliographies) and making them available on the American Communication Association's WWW Free Speech menu.  Such an approach will require equal effort and time as writing a research paper, and, likewise, it should be discussed in advance.
	The general policy for this course is that no late work will be accepted, that make-up examinations will not be given, and that grades of incomplete will not be assigned.  Any exceptions to this policy must be made by written petition and approved by the instructor before the due date, and any work so accepted will be assessed a grade penalty.  All students should be familiar with the provisions of and expect to comply with the College and University statements on academic honesty.  The provisions of these policies will be rigorously enforced in this class.

SCHEDULE OF TOPICS AND READINGS  (Dates approximate).

Week One	Course overview; contemporary perspectives; how to study free speech issues.  (Tedford Appendices)
		Ancient antecedents:  Greece and Rome.  (Tedford #1)
		European antecedents (Bubacz)

Week Two	Colonial antecedents and the Constitution. The Bill of Rights; the Sedition Act of 1798. (Tedford #2) (Wood and DeWitt)

Week Three	Free Speech in 19th and Early 20th Century America (Beasley; Hasian and Panetta; Chuku)

Week Four	Political Heresy (Tedford #3; Haiman)

Week Five	Defamation and Privacy (Tedford #4)

Week Six	Religious and Moral Heresy (Tedford #5)

Week Seven	Provocation to Anger (Tedford #6)

Week Eight	Mid-term Quiz; Commercial Speech (Tedford #7)

Week Nine	Commercial Speech

Week Ten	Prior Restraint (Tedford #8)

Week Eleven	Free Press/Fair Trial (Tedford #9)

Week Twelve	Time, Place, and Manner Constraints (Tedford #10) (Huffman, Mills, & Trauth; Manuto & O"Rourke)

Week Thirteen	Institutional Constraints (Tedford #11; Ewbank; Ruhly)

Week Fourteen	Technology and Free Speech (Tedford #12-13)

Week Fifteen	Theories of Freedom of Expression (Tedford #14)
		Quiz Two