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6mo ago

UT Austin to Merge Ethnic, Race and Gender Departments Into New Social and Cultural Analysis Unit

The move follows months of political scrutiny of race and gender instruction across Texas.

A demonstrator holds up a sign at the base of the UT Tower during a protest at the University of Texas at Austin on Monday, October. 13, 2025. About 150 people gathered to protest Trump's compact and potential cuts to ethnic and gender studies programs in UT's College of Liberal Arts.
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Sydney Jael Wilson, a women and gender studies graduate student, speaks at a protest at the University of Texas at Austin on Monday, October. 13, 2025. About 150 people gathered to protest Trump's compact and potential cuts to ethnic and gender studies programs in UT's College of Liberal Arts.

Overview

  • College leaders told department chairs that African and African Diaspora Studies, American Studies, Mexican American and Latina/o Studies, and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies will be combined into a Department of Social and Cultural Analysis.
  • French and Italian, Germanic Studies, and Slavic and Eurasian Studies will be folded into a new Department of European and Eurasian Studies.
  • Preparation begins immediately with completion targeted for September 2027, and no immediate firings were announced in the meeting with department chairs.
  • Curriculum and degree programs are under review, and it remains unclear how the changes will affect research centers, staffing and student pathways to graduation.
  • Estimates of students affected differ, with a faculty group citing more than 800 across majors, minors and graduate programs and university data listing 307 undergraduate majors in the named departments, while a UT spokesperson declined to comment.