About this Web

This Web was created primarily to support Communication Studies 330, Contemporary Problems in Freedom of Speech, an undergraduate course taught by me, Jean Goodwin, at Northwestern University.

At the main Course webpage you can find links to current class materials. It also contains an archive of course-related materials, such as the syllabus, old exams and sample student papers. Finally, at the bottom of the page is information about my office hours and my various addresses.

The Controversies Bank is a database of free speech controversies intended to give students something to argue about. Some cases are real, some hypothetical or fictionalized; some are still ongoing, some are historical. Several have been developed by students in the class. The cases are loosely indexed under the main free speech issues they contain. Each one is presented in a uniform format, adopting the same briefing style I encourage students to use; a Help! link on each page will take you to an explanation of the categories. Check here often; I add more cases regularly. Feel free to email me (jeangoodwin@nwu.edu) if you have a controversy you'd like to submit.

Course announcements appear on the What's New page. Students should check here at least weekly. Also on this page is a list of new cases or materials that I've added to this Web.

The Reference Room webpage contains links to other online resources on the freedom of speech. If you're looking for further free speech issues, check the page of advocacy organizations for the lastest news and position papers. Also available are some sources for legal research, including the databases of Supreme Court cases.

Wherever you are on the Free Speech web, the Free Speech icon will lead you back to the Center of the Web.

The Free Speech Website has the secondary purpose of supporting the college teaching of First Amendment issues. On the Other Voices page I include links to other course websites. If you'd like your website listed here, please email me (jeangoodwin@nwu.edu) the address. Also, I will happily archive online any course materials (syllabi, exercises, exams) that you send me in electronic form.

Finally, if you use any of the materials on this site, I'd appreciate it if you would drop me a line.

I want to thank Joe Germuska and Brian Nielsen of Northwestern's Academic Technologies unit for their unfailing assistance in keeping this project online and improving. Thanks also to Abby McClelland, a 330 student in 1997 who helped me give the Website what little elegance it possesses. All errors and incongruities are my own.

http://faculty-web.at.nwu.edu/commstud/freespeech/