Free Speech on Campus in the United States and Australia

Presented by Professor Kristine Bowman (Michigan State University)

This Seminar is jointly hosted with the TC Beirne School Of Law - Please note change in venue

Kristine Bowman is a Professor of Law at Michigan State University, where she recently served as Senior Advisor, Office of the Provost, and Vice Dean of the Law College. She is also affiliated with MSU’s College of Education. Her expertise is in US education law, beginning with work at the US Department of Education while she was in law school, continuing with representing school districts as a practicing lawyer, and for roughly the past fifteen years, as a leading scholar in the field.  Her current research projects include editing the Oxford Handbook of US K-12 Education Law and the work that is the subject of this seminar, free speech on campus. Bowman received a JD and MA from Duke University, magna cum laude, and a BA from Drake University, summa cum laude and with university honors. She is an elected member of the American Law Institute and a member of the American Bar Foundation. She is also a POLSIS Visiting Scholar. 

Abstract

Conflicts about free speech on campus are some of the most important issues playing out in US and Australian colleges and universities today.  In the US, national organizations are trying to assist US institutions as they attempt to make space for both free speech and diversity, and as they face conflicts initiated by students, faculty, and those outside the university. In Australia, hateful speech has fewer protections than the US, and former High Court Chief Justice and University of Western Australia Chancellor Robert French has been asked to review rules and regulations related to free speech on campus.  In this seminar, I will discuss similarities and differences between American and Australian law and also American and Australian responses to these conflicts.