Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances

?The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution

Since 1791, these 45 words have served as the cornerstone of democracy, ensuring Americans a right to expression. Of course, what qualifies as expression and how far that “Congress shall make no law” line goes have been topics of heated debate ever since.

In an effort to codify the dizzying history of this short passage, Dean of the MTSU Honors College Dr. John Vile, David Hudson of the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University and David Shultz of Hamline University in Minnesota co-edited “The Encyclopedia of the First Amendment.”

“Essentially what we tried to do is cover the gamut of First Amendment law. It’s designed to be a sort of comprehension coverage of the amendment, and also a gateway for anyone interesting in researching the First Amendment,” Hudson said.

Though many books have been written on specific aspects of the amendment, this marks the first time an all-inclusive work has been made linking all the various areas it covers.

“We have an introduction by John Seigenthaler, a dozen or so essays by leading scholars, and the core of the book is 1,400 or so entries written by about 200 scholars, historians, journalists, political scientists,” Vile said.

Of the book, Vile, Hudson and Shultz are responsible for roughly half the content in the 1,464-page, two-volume set. Nearly 20 of the contributors are MTSU faculty and alumni, making the encyclopedia a great boon to the school’s academic merits.

“Most of us are working on projects like this all the time because it’s academically valuable and because it’s good for the school,” MTSU Political Science professor Dr. David Carleton said. His contribution to the book pertained to early development in the 1800s of public schools and relevant church and state issues.

“Often we take issues related to the First Amendment and consider them separately, and this is really the first time that there’s been a comprehensive treatment. Certainly from a research standpoint and because it allows people to see the connections, I feel it’s very useful,” Carleton said.

Though the book may be of particular relevance given the battles of post-9/11 laws and their effect on civil liberties, the editors of the book were quick to point out that the First Amendment is a focal point for debate throughout history, especially during war.

“We do have entries on the impact of the PATRIOT Act on free speech, free speech zones being used at different political conventions to separate protesters . . . so there is a lot of current relevance and modern First Amendment controversies. There is also a heavy focus on past issues. One of the things we could do in the encyclopedia is show how certain First Amendment controversies continued throughout the span of history,” Hudson said.

“A lot of the cases involving the First Amendment tend to crop up during times of war, particularly freedom of speech. To some degree, post-9/11, there are an increasing number of cases that involve free speech, free press and rights in the school?high school, college and what the differences are,” Vile said.

The book has already received praise, earning the 2008 Booklist Editor’s Choice Award and the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) 2009 Outstanding Reference Source Award.

A copy has been donated to the Honors College Library, and though one is not yet listed in their records, Vile says he expects MTSU’s James E. Walker Library to have a copy on hand soon.