The women’s, gender, and sexuality department at the University of Texas at Austin will merge with the university’s departments of African and African diaspora studies, American studies, and Mexican American and Latino studies, according to a report from The Texas Tribune.
The new consolidated academic unit will be renamed the social analysis and cultural studies department. Separately, UT Austin plans to merge its Germanic studies, Slavic and Eurasian studies, French, and Italian programs into a new department of European and Eurasian studies.
More than 800 students are currently pursuing majors, minors, and graduate degrees across the affected programs. Over the next 18 months, the university will conduct a curricula review to determine which majors and minors will be offered under the two new departments. Students currently pursuing degrees in these areas can continue their studies while the departmental changes are underway.
“This is a sad day for UT students. Rather than bringing the state’s next generation into the future, our leaders are taking a giant leap backwards,” Julie Minich, professor of Mexican American and Latino studies and of English, told The Texas Tribune. “UT is reversing roughly 50 years of intellectual progress and innovation. If the goal is to make sure UT is no longer a global leader in higher education this is a great move.”
Dr. Minich is a graduate of Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, where she majored in comparative literature. She holds a Ph.D. in Spanish and Portuguese from Stanford University.