Oxbridge Lecture Series
Fall 2008
Dr. Brian Carroll |
 |
|---|
Fall 2008 Oxbridge Lecture Series Course:
Got Freedom of Expression®? (HON 251)
 |
|---|
In 2008, questions, issues, and debates centered on the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and its role in government and society are as contentious as ever. From presidential politics to local classrooms to what we can access via the Internet, we continue to argue the fine points of a 45-word, 217-year-old amendment that seeks to protect freedoms of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition.
 |
|---|
Unfortunately, if one poll is correct, Americans know more about “The Simpsons” animated TV show than the First Amendment.1 Only one in four could name more than one of the five freedoms the First articulates, yet more than half could name at least two members of the cartoon TV family. Far more could name all three “American Idol” judges than the First’s articulated freedoms, and about one in five thought the right to own a pet was one of these freedoms. Freedom for many, it would seem, is only a word.
Got Freedom of Expression®? (HON 251) examines the origins and historical uniqueness of the First Amendment, the evolution in interpretations of its freedoms over time, and the contemporary challenges to one of the United States’ most basic laws. These challenges include technological change, a seemingly endless war, religiosity in politics, and, as Neil Postman persuasively argued, the ignorance that results from a society’s members “amusing ourselves to death.”2
The course includes the option for students to exercise their First Amendment right to freedom of expression instead of a traditional research paper, an option that asks students to identify a public issue about which they feel strongly, prepare a project proposal, then plan and organize how they will bring their issue to a larger audience.
_______________________________
1 “Simpsons ‘trump’ First Amendment,” BBC News, 1 March 2006, available:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4761294.stm . The poll was conducted in February.
2 Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business (New York: Penguin, 1986).