Tori Ekstrand

Tori Ekstrand is a professor at the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media, where she teaches media law and courses on artificial intelligence governance and free expression. She previously held the Royster Distinguished Professorship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research focuses on First Amendment law, media and technology policy, and more recently on the evolving relationship between academic freedom, governance and digital platforms in the United States and Europe.

Ekstrand’s current work increasingly situates questions of free expression within transatlantic contexts. She is a recipient of a 2026 Fulbright–Schuman Award, through which she is conducting research on comparative approaches to academic freedom, constitutional culture and AI regulation in the United States and the European Union. Her projects examine how legal frameworks, institutional governance and emerging technologies are reshaping the conditions under which scholars, journalists and students produce and circulate knowledge.

She has been deeply involved in UNC’s strategic partnership with the University of Tübingen and was recognized with a University of North Carolina Faculty Award for Global Excellence for this work. As part of this collaboration, she has engaged in transatlantic teaching, research and institutional exchange, and has been invited to speak at the University of Tübingen’s College of Fellows on contemporary threats to academic freedom.

At UNC, Ekstrand has played a significant leadership role in advancing interdisciplinary research on media law and technology. She is the former director of the UNC Center for Media Law and Policy and is an affiliate with the UNC Center for Information, Technology, and Public Life (CITAP). She also serves as vice president of AAUP North Carolina, where she has led efforts to establish a legal hotline to support faculty navigating issues related to academic freedom, governance and employment rights. She is actively involved in faculty governance and curriculum development, including initiatives that explore the role of artificial intelligence in journalism education and public life. She is a recipient of UNC Hussman’s Edward Vick Prize for Innovation in Teaching.

Ekstrand is the lead editor of a widely used media law textbook, now in its ninth edition (forthcoming 2027), which integrates contemporary developments in First Amendment doctrine, platform regulation, copyright and data governance. Her scholarship has appeared in leading law reviews and communication journals, and her work frequently engages questions at the intersection of law, technology and democratic practice.

Education

• Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• M.A., New York University
• B.A., Syracuse University