Franciska Coleman

Franciska Coleman is an Assistant Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Wisconsin Law School and the Associate Director of the East Asian Legal Studies Center. She is an interdisciplinary scholar, whose work draws upon political theory, critical discourse analysis, and constitutional law.

Professor Coleman's current research focuses on the constitutional implications of the United States' eventual demographic shift to a minority-majority society. Her current work also explores "cancel culture" as a byproduct of the American constitutional choice to rely on the social rather than legal regulation of speech, with particular attention to the "cancelling" of speakers who are members of racial or ethnic minorities.

Prior to joining the faculty of UW Law School, Professor Coleman was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Washington University in St. Louis and also held a Visiting Scholar appointment at Harvard Law School.

Professor Coleman previously taught American Constitutional Law I and II at Yonsei Law School in Seoul, South Korea. During that time, she worked closely with the Korean government on several initiatives, such as international roundtables on offensive speech held by the Korean Communication Standards Commission and efforts by the Korean Legislation Research Institute to make Korean statutes more accessible to foreign communities.

Prior to her time in Korea, Professor Coleman worked as an associate in the litigation and appellate practice groups at Covington & Burling in Washington, DC. She received her JD from Harvard Law School and her PhD in Literacy, Culture and International Education from the University of Pennsylvania. While studying at these institutions, she was awarded the AAUW Selected Professions Fellowship and the Fontaine Fellowship.

EDUCATION

• Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania (2011)
• J.D., Harvard Law School (2008)