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Lectures and Courses

Wendell Goddard is engaged in giving ongoing international lectures and courses on public policy. Previous titles have included: "Current Issues in Public Policy: Legal and Ethical Perspectives," "The American Political System and U.S. Elections," and "Regulation in a Free Society - Is Law a Limitation on Freedom or a Fundamental Condition of It?" These lectures have addressed the interplay between free speech, privacy, and national security; terrorist attacks in Paris; immigration in the U.S. and Europe; the war in Ukraine; U.S. elections and politics; and other subjects of current interest. Venues have included Prague, Bratislava, Paris, San Francisco, and Chiang Mai, Thailand. Wendell has also given online courses with the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI).

Travelling college lecturer discussing American politics.

Future Lectures

Plans for 2023-2024 include Wendell's eighth annual course on Current Issues in Public Policy at Charles University in Prague, Comenius University in Bratislava, and other venues.

Prior Course Outlines

Current Issues in Public Policy: Legal and Ethical Perspectives

  • Interplay between free speech, privacy, and national security

    • Philosophical underpinnings

  • Policy concerns in the world we live in

    • Terrorist attacks, invasions of privacy, and immigration

  • Free speech and advocacy of violence

    • Brandenburg v. Ohio

  • Privacy and the right to be forgotten

    • Spanish case against Google

  • Government access to personal records

    • Edward Snowden - Internet and data protection

  • U.S. Justice Department v. Apple Computer

Regulation in a Free Society:
Comparative Views and Case Studies
from Europe and the United States

  • Law and public policy

    • Case studies: free speech and privacy

    • Public commentary on religion, internet and data protection, government access to personal records

  • Legislative process: three branches of government, role of American courts

    • Case studies: affirmative action and discrimination

    • University of Michigan and Texas cases

    • Immigration protests in Europe

  • Public policy and the role of the State: what conduct should be regulated?

    • Case studies: personal health decisions

    • Marijuana, vaccinations, the right to die

The American Political System
and U.S. Elections

  • Three branches of American government

  • Money and politics - the case of Citizens United and free speech                                   

  • U.S. presidential campaign - Republicans and Democrats debate

  • Selection of a new justice on the Supreme Court

  • Affirmative action and discrimination

  • Balance of power in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives 

© 2023 by Wendell H. Goddard.

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