The Woke Constitution

Catalog description

In recent years, pundits and government officials mostly but not exclusively on the political right have decried wokeness-a somewhat catchall phrase apparently meant to convey a judgmental attitude on the part of progressives. Insofar as the wokeness label connotes censoriousness, it implicates questions of constitutional free speech. More generally, many of the culture-war battles over what Elon Musk has called a civilization-threatening woke mind virus raise important legal questions. This seminar will examine various such questions, chiefly through discussion of assigned readings selected by the instructors but also in four or five sessions in which outside scholars with a variety of perspectives will present works in progress. Topics will include: the legal status and scope of academic freedom; restrictions on critical race theory and DEI; state laws banning gender-affirming care for transgender youth; regulation of social media platforms; laws restricting corporate ESG programs; the reorientation of some conservative and liberal views about campus free speech in the wake of the war between Israel and Hamas; and more. Students will produce short reflection papers and a final paper that satisfies the writing requirement.