The Department of Social and Cultural Analysis sent a proposal Oct. 29 for a new major consolidating four former ethnic and gender studies majors into one to the provost’s office. The proposal is in accordance with a Nov. 1 deadline for new major proposals in the College of Liberal Arts, according to a document obtained by The Texan.
The University announced in February that four ethnic, gender and American studies departments would be combined into one social and cultural analysis department. Over the past few months, a faculty executive committee worked with each of the combined departments on multiple proposals to meet the Office of the Provost’s demands.
The Office of the Provost rejected the department’s initial proposal for ethnic and gender studies programs to remain as majors in September, but faculty had until Nov. 1 to submit an updated proposal. The four majors being combined into this major are African and African diaspora studies, Mexican American and Latina/o studies, women’s and gender studies, and race, indigeneity, and migration. There is no current timeline for the proposal’s acceptance or rejection.
“The administration has sped everything through and doesn’t give us a lot of time to be thoughtful and careful about the proposals that they ask for, and it feels like they’re setting us up to fail,” said an African and African diaspora studies associate professor, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation from the University.
The updated proposal includes curriculum from each of the consolidated majors and will be released once the Office of the Provost accepts or rejects the proposal.
Faculty said they had a difficult time meeting to create the new proposal on an expedited timeline.
“There hasn’t been a lot of time, and everyone’s very busy, so trying to find a time where most of us could meet and consider how we would propose changes … has been really difficult,” the professor said.
An African and African diaspora studies professor, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation, said they had to stop themself from having anxiety attacks during weekly meetings about the changes.
“I had to disassociate and try not to think about it too much,” the faculty member said. They also said they do not feel respected at the University because of the administration’s lack of faith in their work.
The former department chair of African and African diaspora studies and member of the executive committee, Professor Edmund T. Gordon, said the department’s mood involves “extreme anxiety about the process” and “fear for the future” and frustration.
“We’re trying to create a major or majors for the new department that are consistent with our academic values and intellectual expertise, but that also comply with the administration’s notions of what it is that our major should look like and contain,” Gordon said. “So it’s a very difficult time.”
