Mark Grabowski will give a talk at Vanderbilt University Law School next week on the importance of viewpoint diversity in higher education. The event, at noon on March 29, is sponsored by the Federalist Society. It's free and open to the public.

Grabowski will be addressing recent free speech controversies at Middlebury, Berkeley, Vanderbilt and elsewhere, the importance of having an ideologically diverse faculty, how the corporatization of higher ed has contributed to this problem, and alarming new practices that some colleges are utilizing to chill speech -- such as creating social media "watch lists" for outspoken students -- among other things.

"One of the reasons we're seeing incidents like Middlebury is because many students live in a bubble and aren't getting exposed to other viewpoints," Grabowski said. "So, it's easy for them to reduce others to caricatures and flare at them instead of treating them respectfully like the human beings they are."

Grabowski is a lawyer and an associate professor at Adelphi University in New York, where he teaches communications law and ethics. He also writes a syndicated column for the Washington Examiner and is a member of Heterodox Academy, a non-partisan group of 500+ professors working to promote free speech and intellectual diversity on campus.

Who's right in the Apple-FBI dispute? Did Gawker violate Hulk Hogan's privacy when it posted a scandalous video of him on its website? Can Donald Trump close "parts of the Internet" if he becomes president?

Learn about these issues and more by signing up for Internet Law & Ethics, a 3-credit online summer course offered by Adelphi University.

The course, taught by Professor Mark Grabowski, features video lectures, interactive exercises and class discussions, all of which can be done through your computer. You never need to set foot in an actual classroom. And you can complete lessons at a time that's convenient for you.

The 6-week cyberspace law class is a survey course covering the law of and on the Internet. It will examine many of the legal, policy and ethical issues raised by the emergence and dominance of the Internet as a means for communication, commerce and social interaction. Topics will include jurisdiction, privacy, hacking and cybercrimes, intellectual property, network neutrality and government regulation of the Internet. No technical or legal background is needed. Grabowski is a lawyer with expertise on Internet law and digital ethics.

To register for the course, contact Adelphi University's Registrar Office at (516) 877-3300 or registrar@adelphi.edu. Both graduate and undergradate students, including non-Adelphi students, may enroll. Tuition costs approximately $2,500. Space is limited, so register ASAP. Class begins May 30 and ends July 8. 

Internet law professor Mark Grabowski in March published two law journal articles and a newspaper column on the U.S. Supreme Court and technology law.

In a Communications Law Review article published on March 15, Grabowski reflected on the late justice Antonin Scalia's legacy as an unlikely defender of technology. In a forthcoming piece being published in the Yale Journal on Regulation, he analyzes whether Neil Gorsuch, the federal judge nominated to succeed Scalia, will carry on his torch as a strong advocate for digital rights. The latter piece was discussed in Tech Policy Daily.

"Although Scalia's rulings on social issues were considered 'behind the times' by progressives, one area where he was 'shockingly forward-looking' was technology, law and tech experts agree," Grabowski said. "Let's hope Gorsuch is indeed 'Scalia 2.0' when it comes to protecting digital liberties. But a review of his decisions on tech issues suggests he may not be. The Senate definitely should explore this issue more closely when their confirmation hearings begin March 20."

Additionally, Grabowski addressed the Supreme Court and technology in his latest syndicated column. In light of a recent high court case, social media censorship could be declared unconstitutional, he argued. Grabowski's column, which was published in the Washington Examiner and several other newspapers from New York to Alaska, was discussed by SCOTUSblog, Constitution.com, Breitbart News, American Thinker and on Reddit. 

Grabowski has written extensively on the topic of the Supreme Court and technology. Past publications include:

• The ‘Twitter test’ for Supreme Court nominees, Sacramento Bee (March 3, 2016)
• Are Technical Difficulties at the Supreme Court Causing a "Disregard of Duty"?, Journal of Law, Technology & Internet (2011)
• Technical Difficulties at the Supreme Court, AOL News (June 1, 2010)