Despite a University of Iowa announcement in December of its intentions to seek approval this month of a new “School of Social and Cultural Analysis,” the plan has been shelved following legislative opposition and regent rejection.
“The Board of Regents Academic Affairs Committee elected not to consider the creation of a School of Social and Cultural Analysis or new Bachelor of Arts in Social and Cultural Analysis at its February 2025 meeting,” a UI College of Liberal Arts & Sciences director told faculty and staff in a Tuesday email obtained by The Gazette.
The new school and bachelor’s degree were part of a “multiyear administrative restructure of the college intended to better serve students and faculty” and would have closed or collapsed several departments and programs including the Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies Department, the American Studies Department, the African American Studies Department and Jewish Studies, Latin X Studies and Native American and Indigenous Studies programs.
As part of its proposal for a new school and major in Social and Cultural Analysis, the university planned to terminate its bachelor’s degrees in American Studies and Social Justice — moves the board is willing to consider at its meeting next week, according to the college director’s email.
But, according to the director email, “Since the board is not considering the new school, the department closures will not occur at this time.”
UI spokeswoman Jeneane Beck clarified that the new school and the department closures were tied together in a single proposal, “which the board has elected not to consider at this time.”
The UI’s proposed closures, its pitch for a new school and the board’s rejection to even consider it comes after strident legislative pushback against all diversity, equity and inclusion efforts across the state’s three public universities.
Lawmakers baked that opposition into law last session by passing a measure barring the campuses from spending on DEI offices, staffing, training or programming — while the Board of Regents also levied 10 directives, including one urging the campuses to advance intellectual and philosophical diversity among faculty and staff.
This session, Republican lawmakers in the Iowa House again have proposed a spate of bills targeting DEI, academic offerings and curricular requirements on the regent campuses.
www.thegazette.com
“The Board of Regents Academic Affairs Committee elected not to consider the creation of a School of Social and Cultural Analysis or new Bachelor of Arts in Social and Cultural Analysis at its February 2025 meeting,” a UI College of Liberal Arts & Sciences director told faculty and staff in a Tuesday email obtained by The Gazette.
The new school and bachelor’s degree were part of a “multiyear administrative restructure of the college intended to better serve students and faculty” and would have closed or collapsed several departments and programs including the Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies Department, the American Studies Department, the African American Studies Department and Jewish Studies, Latin X Studies and Native American and Indigenous Studies programs.
As part of its proposal for a new school and major in Social and Cultural Analysis, the university planned to terminate its bachelor’s degrees in American Studies and Social Justice — moves the board is willing to consider at its meeting next week, according to the college director’s email.
But, according to the director email, “Since the board is not considering the new school, the department closures will not occur at this time.”
UI spokeswoman Jeneane Beck clarified that the new school and the department closures were tied together in a single proposal, “which the board has elected not to consider at this time.”
‘Peddling ideological agendas’
The UI’s proposed closures, its pitch for a new school and the board’s rejection to even consider it comes after strident legislative pushback against all diversity, equity and inclusion efforts across the state’s three public universities.
Lawmakers baked that opposition into law last session by passing a measure barring the campuses from spending on DEI offices, staffing, training or programming — while the Board of Regents also levied 10 directives, including one urging the campuses to advance intellectual and philosophical diversity among faculty and staff.
This session, Republican lawmakers in the Iowa House again have proposed a spate of bills targeting DEI, academic offerings and curricular requirements on the regent campuses.
Regents reject University of Iowa’s ‘Social and Cultural Analysis' school
Despite a University of Iowa announcement in December of its intentions to seek approval this month of a new “School of Social and Cultural Analysis,” the plan has been shelved following legislative opposition and regent rejection.
www.thegazette.com
