Behind UT's pivot away from multiculturalism
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As the University of Texas jettisons four academic majors critical to thinking about diversity and world history, the institution is expanding its embrace of traditional great books courses.
Why it matters: The moves reflect a big pivot by UT away from some of its prominent academic, multicultural touchstones as it increasingly aligns itself with conservative-minded values.
Catch up quick: The university plans to eliminate four majors — African and African diaspora studies, Mexican American and Latina/o studies, women's and gender studies, and the race, indigeneity and migration major — following the consolidation of seven departments.
- The departments that housed those majors had roots in civil rights struggles in the 1960s and 1970s, and academic work by UT scholars in those fields was widely lauded.
Between the lines: Over the summer, the university opened a Center for Humanities, focused on teaching and research tied to UT's core curriculum.
- UT hired 14 new professors for the center. Many of them previously taught at the University of Florida's Hamilton School for Classical and Civic Education, which UT provost William Inboden previously directed.
- Listed courses include What Is Love? and God and Science.
What they're saying: A new proposed undergraduate core curriculum unveiled by the university is meant to prepare graduates "for successful careers, thoughtful citizenship, and purposeful lives," UT president Jim Davis wrote to the university community in August.
- A UT spokesperson did not immediately respond to an Axios question about why the majors had been eliminated.
The other side: The new curriculum "is designed more to transmit content than to foment critical thinking or open inquiry," Julie Minich, a scholar specializing in Chicano studies and an officer of the American Association of University Professors chapter at UT, wrote in the American-Statesman on Thursday.
- "It is difficult to understand how removing courses that enable students to thrive in one of the most diverse states in the country will result in successful careers or thoughtful citizenship," she wrote.
The big picture: The shift at UT has been taking place over at least the last half-dozen years, as university leaders have unveiled institutes and centers that cater to conservatives — and, in keeping with state law, eliminated programs that address diversity and inclusion.
- In the spring, UT feted Justice Clarence Thomas as he argued for a full embrace of Western civilization on college campuses.
- In February, Davis announced the consolidation of seven ethnic and gender studies departments into two new departments, saying the move was about stewardship of university resources.
Zoom out: UT's moves come amid a wider backlash against multiculturalism at American universities.
- The board of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, for example, recently eliminated ethnic studies majors. Universities from Northwestern to Kansas have been restructuring or consolidating their Black studies programs.
What's next: Students currently enrolled in the majors will be able to complete their degree.