Faculty profile

Dr. Knowles received her Ph.D. from Boston University. She teaches classes in American law and politics, and politics and film. Her research focuses on legal history. She is the author of The Tie Goes to Freedom: Justice Anthony M. Kennedy on Liberty (2009; 2018 – updated paperback); Judging Free Speech: First Amendment Jurisprudence of Supreme Court Justices (co-edited with Steven B. Lichtman); Lights, Camera, Execution! Cinematic Portrayals of Capital Punishment (co-authored with Bruce E. Altschuler and Jaclyn Schildkraut); and Free Speech Theory: Understanding the Controversies (co-edited with Brandon T. Metroka). She is currently working on two other books, both of which are under contract with publishers and are scheduled to be published in 2020: Making Minimum Wage: Elsie Parrish v. The West Coast Hotel Company (for inclusion in the University of Oklahoma Press's American Constitutional Heritage series); and The Cascadian Hotel (co-authored with Darlene L. Spargo for inclusion in Arcadia Publishing's Images of America series). Dr. Knowles has also authored numerous articles, including one that won the Hughes-Gossett award from the Supreme Court Historical Society.