A Princeton University professor has canceled a course on cultural freedoms after his use of a racial slur last week during a class discussion led students to walk out and prompted a campus debate about classroom speech.

A Princeton University spokesman confirmed on Tuesday the cancellation by Professor Lawrence Rosen of the "Cultural Freedoms -- Hate Speech, Blasphemy, and Pornography." The cancellation was first reported by Princeton's University Press Club.

Prof. Lawrence Rosen

Four students walked out of Rosen's anthropology class on Feb. 6 after he used the N-word multiple times during a lecture on free speech, according to DailyPrincetonian.com, the university's student publication.

The professor asked "Which is more provocative: A white man walks up to a black man and punches him in the nose, or a white man walks up to a black man and calls him a (n-word)?" according to the report.

Rosen used the word three times, refused a demand from several students to apologize and argued with at least one student, according to DailyPrincetonian.com.

Two students then filed a complaint against the professor.

On Monday, university administrators met with several students from the class. Later Monday, Princeton president Christopher Eisgruber addressed the issue in a previously scheduled town hall meeting on campus.

He said free speech and inclusivity are not exclusive but rather, "mutually supportive" of one another, the Daily Princetonian reported.

The head of the anthropology department, who is black, wrote a letter to the editor of the Daily Princetonian, defending Rosen's use of the word.

"Rosen has used the same example year after year," wrote Caryoln Rouse.

"This is the first year he got the response he did from the students. This is diagnostic of the level of overt anti-black racism in the country today. Anti-American and anti-Semitic examples did not upset the students, but an example of racism did. This did not happen when (Barack) Obama was president, when the example seemed less real and seemed to have less power.

"I feel bad for the students who left the class not trusting the process. Rosen was fighting battles for women, Native Americans, and African-Americans before these students were born. He grew up a Jew in anti-Semitic America, and recognizes how law has afforded him rights he would not otherwise have."

The University also defended Rosen in a statement.

"The values of free speech and inclusivity are central to Princeton University's mission and critical to the education we provide to our students, including in Anthropology 212.

The conversations and disagreements that took place in the seminar led by Prof. Rosen (last week) are part

of the vigorous engagement and robust debate that are central to what we do."

Rosen, who retired from the university last year but still teaches as a professor emeritus, didn't respond to a message from NJ Advance Media on Tuesday seeking comment. Rosen is both an anthropologist and lawyer, according to his bio on Princeton University's website.

The summary for Rosen's class was described on Princeton's course listing as:

"Freedom of expression is always limited, both by the harm that may be said to occur if unbridled and by the constraints of the dominant culture. Using such topics as hate speech on campus, the cultural defense plea, the Mapplethorpe exhibit, the Supreme Court opinions on pornography, and the Salman Rushdie affair, we will ask how civility relates to free speech, how codes may channel expression without oppression, and how cultural difference can relate to shared values and orientations."

DailyPrincetonian.com first reported Rosen's use of the word.

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook.