Teaching

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Teaching Philosophy

For many students – even those in communications programs – media law can be a daunting subject. This is not this helped by the way that media law classes are often taught: by presenting a litany of abstract rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court and lower courts, with abstract rules that are often not fully explained and often not put into context, either of the situation in which the case was decided, or how it applies to the work that the students might be doing in the future.

I have tried to fight this tendency in my teaching by getting students involved in the cases and issues we are discussing, and showing them how it applies to their work in journalism, advertising, public relations and related fields. I also use multimedia to reveal the real-life drama and consequences of the legal cases we examine in my classes, to show the importance and impact that the law can have on my students and their careers in media.


Honors and Awards

Recognized as a “Career Influencer” for having a significant influence on students’ career decisions, University of South Carolina (July 2024, Nov. 2025)

Appointed Reid H. Montgomery Freedom of Information Chair, University of South Carolina School of Journalism and Mass Communications (Aug. 2024)

Recognized as a “Professor for Student Affordability” for use of free and low-cost texts and teaching resources, University of South Carolina undergraduate student government (Fall 2017)


Graduate and Undergraduate Courses

School of Journalism and Mass Communications, College of Information and Communications, University of South Carolina: Assistant Professor, 2016-2021; Associate Professor, 2021-date; Reid H. Montgomery Freedom of Information Chair, 2024-date

Internet and Social Media Law (undergraduate): Fall 2022; Spring 2023; Fall 2023; Spring 2024, Spring 2025

Internet and Social Media Law (undergraduate honors): Spring 2018*, Fall 2019*, Fall 2021*; Fall 2022; Fall 2023; Spring 2025     (* originally Law and Ethics of Mass Communications: Internet and Social Media)

Law and Ethics of Mass Communications (undergraduate): Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2018, Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020 (Covid hybrid), Spring 2021 (Covid hybrid), Fall 2021; Spring 2022

Media Law (combined masters and doctoral): Spring 2022; Spring 2023; Spring 2024

Media Law (masters): Spring 2019, Spring 2020

Seminar In Mass Communication Legal Research Methods (doctoral): Fall 2017, Spring 2020

University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law, Academic Associate, March 2021 – present

Media Law (law school): Spring 2024; Spring 2025

Adelphi University, Adjunct Associate Professor, Aug. 2024 – Dec. 2024

Cyber Law & Ethics: Fall 2024

Manship School of Public Communication, Louisiana State University: Instructor (Graduate Student)

Media Ethics and Social Responsibility (undergraduate): Spring 2016
Mass Media Law (undergraduate): Fall 2014, Spring 2015, Fall 2015
Manship in D.C. (undergraduate experiential class), co-instructor, Summer 2015

Weissman School of Arts and Sciences, Baruch College, City University of New York: Adjunct Assistant Professor

Media Ethics and Law (undergraduate): Fall 2012, Spring 2013

Craig Newmark [formerly CUNY] Graduate School of Journalism at City of University of New York: Adjunct Assistant Professor

Legal and Ethical Issues (graduate): Fall 2012

Reynolds School of Journalism, University of Nevada, Reno: Instructor

First Amendment & Society (undergraduate): Fall 2010 (ass’t), Fall 2011, Spring 2012


Online Courses

Public Relations Law, The Arthur W. Page Center for Integrity in Public Communication, Pennsylvania State University (posted 2024).

Cyber Law & Ethics, Adelphi University (Fall 2024).


Faculty Development (Pedagogy) Seminars

Robinson, E. and Smith, L. (2022, Nov. 4). “An Easy Choice? Using Multiple-Choice Tests for Program Assessment. Center for Teaching Excellence, University of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C.

Robinson, E. (2020, Feb. 19). Discussing Controversial Issues and Right of Free Speech. Center for Teaching Excellence, University of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C.

Robinson, E. (2019, Feb. 12). Discussing Controversial Issues and Right of Free Speech. Center for Teaching Excellence, University of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C.

Invited Lectures

Robinson, E. (guest instructor) (2024, Sept. 12). “Public Relations and the Law.” In Holly Overton, Ethics and Regulation in Advertising and Public Relations, Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pa.

Robinson, E. (guest instructor) (2023, Jan. 25). “Media Law Basics.” In Richard Peterson, Advanced Reporting Topics, University of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C.

Robinson, E. (guest instructor) (2022, Sept. 19). “Public Relations and the Law.” In Holly Overton, Public Relations Research, Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pa.

Robinson, E. (guest instructor) (2022, Feb. 1). “Media Law Basics.” In M. Carolyn Click and Richard Peterson, Advanced Reporting Topics, University of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C.

Robinson, E. (guest instructor) (2021, Nov. 18). “Contracts and Terms of Service.” In Randy Covington, Social Media and Society, University of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C.

Robinson, E. (guest instructor) (2021, Sept. 1). “Media Law Basics.” In M. Carolyn Click and Richard Peterson, Advanced Reporting Topics, University of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C.

Robinson, E. (guest instructor) (2020, Oct. 13). “Operating Online & Keeping It Legal.” In Kirstin Pellizzaro, Social Media and Mobile Journalism, University of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C.

Robinson, E. (guest instructor) (2020, Feb. 26). “Operating Online & Keeping It Legal.” In Kirstin Pellizzaro, Social Media and Mobile Journalism, University of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C.

Robinson, E. (guest instructor) (2020, Feb. 4). “Danger Zones: Legal and Other Risks Online.” In M. Carolyn Click and Richard Peterson, Advanced Reporting Topics, University of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C.

Robinson, E. (speaker and panel moderator) (2019, Nov. 13). “How Far is Too Far?: Libel Law in Political Campaigns.” Reilly Center for Media & Public Affairs, Manship School of Public Communications, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, La.

Robinson, E. (guest instructor) (2019, Sept. 18). “Legal Issues in social and mobile journalism.” In Kirstin Pellizzaro, Social Media and Mobile Journalism, University of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C.

Robinson, E. (guest instructor) (2019, Sept. 16). “Danger Zones: Legal and Other Risks Online.” In M. Carolyn Click and Richard Peterson, Advanced Reporting Topics, University of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C.

Robinson, E. (panelist) (2019, May 1). “Law Day 2019: Free Speech, Free Press, Free Society,” Fort Jackson, Columbia, S.C.

Robinson, E. (guest instructor) (2019, Apr. 4). “Crash Course in Copyright.” In Keith Kenney, Photovisual Communications I: Photography, University of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C.

Robinson, E. (2018, Sept. 21). “Back to Basics: A Media Law Refresher on Libel Privacy and Access.” In 2018 Media Law School (legal training for working journalists), University of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C.

Robinson, E. (guest instructor) (2017, Sept. 13). “The Star Chamber, Zenger and Development of the First Amendment.” In Elisabeth Fondren, American Media History, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, La.

Robinson, E. (speaker / panelist) (2017, Feb. 8-9). RTI International (on behalf of U.S. Department of Justice), Potential Impact of Electronic Media Use on the Right to a Fair Trial workshop, Criminal Justice Priority Needs Initiative, National Institute of Justice, Washington, D.C.

Resulting report:  Dawson, J.C., Banks, D., Michael J. D., Vermeer, M.J.D., and Shelton, S.R. (2018). Strategies to Mitigate the Impact of Electronic Communication and Electronic Devices on the Right to a Fair Trial, Rand Corp.  (on behalf of U.S. Department of Justice), Washington, D.C.

Robinson, E. (guest instructor) (2017, Jan. 31). “Public Relations / Corporate Speech and the Law.” In Holly Ott, Principles of Public Relations, University of South Carolina, Columbia, S.C.

Robinson, E. (guest instructor) (2016, Nov. 16). “The Writer and the Law.” In Adaobi Duru, Writing for Professional Communicators, University of Louisiana – Monroe, Monroe, La.

Robinson, E. (guest instructor) (2016, Jan. 29). “Creating the First Amendment: Origins and Philosophy.” In Len Apgar, Introduction to Mass Media, Manship School of Mass Communications, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, La.

Robinson, E. (guest instructor) (2015, Sept. 2 and 9). “Hitting the Books: Legal Issues in Publishing.” In MaryKatherine Callaway, Publishing in the Digital Age, English Department, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, La.


Legal Seminars and Continuing Legal Education Programs

Robinson, E.  (2017, Oct. 26). Fake News: The Law of False Publications. LexisNexis, online continuing legal education webinar.

Robinson, E.  (2013, Feb. 6). The Use of Social Media in 21st-Century Litigation, Cumberland School of Law.

Robinson, E.  (2012, Mar. 2). #DigitalExpressions: Exploring Free Speech in Cyberspace, Florida Coastal School of Law,.

Robinson, E.  (2011, Oct. 22). Media Law in the Digital Age: The Rules Have Changed – Again, Kennesaw State University.

Robinson, E.  (2011, May 19), Public Perception of Judges and the Courts, National Judicial College.

Robinson, E.  (2009, Oct. 14). Social Media for Lawyers, New York Law School.


Supervision of Student Research

Doctoral Students

Dante Mozie, Truth and Service: The North Carolina Central Campus Echo as a Defender and Advocate of Black Racial Uplift, 1927-1974 (doctoral dissertation, competition expected May 2025).

  • Committee member

Christopher Frear, “Always On Display”: South Carolina Civil Rights Lawyer Matthew J. Perry Jr. Expanding the Civil Sphere Through the Courts and the News Media, 1954-1963 (doctoral dissertation, Aug. 2023).

  • committee member

Daniel Haun, Do You Agree?: Manifesting Assent in Clickwrap Agreements (research paper, Dec. 2018)

Brandon Birmingham, The 140-Character Plea: Social Media Blocking by Elected Officials and the Right to Petition (Dec. 2018).

  • advisor
  • submitted to 2018 AEJMC Southeastern Colloquium, Tuscaloosa, AL, March 2019

Undergraduate Students

Amelia Richardson, NetChoice, LLC. v. Bonta (undergraduate honors thesis), Fall 2025 – Spring 2026

Alexander Roberts, Reclaiming Sound: Copyright Restoration as Cultural and Economic Justice for Black Musicians (undergraduate honors thesis), Fall 2025

Caroline Clemson, An Analysis of the Ethical Breakdown in the Use of Propaganda During WW II (undergraduate honors thesis (Dec. 2021).

  • committee member

Madison Kelly, True Crime in the Courtroom: How Consumption of True Crime Media Affects Juries (undergraduate honors thesis, Dec. 2020).

  • second chair

Morgan Hill, The Trouble with True Threats (2018)

  • co-author
  • registered with University of South Carolina Undergraduate Research Registry
  • presented and awarded second best faculty paper in Law and Policy Division at 2019 AEJMC Annual Conference, Toronto, ON
  • published as Robinson, E. and Hill, M. (2020). The Trouble with True Threats, University of Baltimore Journal of Media Law & Ethics 8:2, 37-67.


High School Programs

Instructor, Southern Interscholastic Press Association convention (legal sessions for students and advisors), 2017, 2018, 2020

Instructor, Louisiana Scholastic Press Association, fall conference (legal sessions for students and advisors), 2014, 2015, 2016

Instructor, Nevada High School Journalism Day (media law sessions), 2010, 2011, 2012

Instructor, LeadAmerica (annual journalism/media summer immersion program), 2008, 2009, 2010

Instructor, Columbia Scholastic Press Association (annual convention for high school journalists), 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010

Speaker, N.Y.C. Bar Association (career days, journalism and Constitution programs in public schools), 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005