Cathy Packer, the James H. Shumaker Term Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Journalism and Mass Communication, joined the UNC-CH faculty in 1988 after teaching at Boston College.  She has a master’s degree and a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota School of Journalism and Mass Communication, with a specialty in First Amendment law.  She received a bachelor’s degree from the UNC-CH School of Journalism and then worked as a reporter for The High Point Enterprise and The Charlotte News before going to graduate school.  She teaches media law and has articles and book chapters about media law.  She is an editor of "The North Carolina Media Law Handbook" and is the author of the book “Freedom of Expression in the American Military:  A Communication Modeling Analysis.”