Students can no longer take sociology to fulfill their core course requirements, Florida’s state university system decided Wednesday. Instead, his board approved “a lesson in historical reality” as a replacement.
The 17-member board’s decision came after fierce opposition from sociology professors in the university system, which includes the University of Florida and Florida State.
And it’s the latest move by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration to challenge the education establishment, and what the governor has portrayed as its liberal orthodoxy. Mr. DeSantis, a Republican, had tried to leverage his educational background in his failed presidential campaign.
In a brief announcement Wednesday, Chancellor Ray Rodrigues said he was proud of the board’s decision and looked forward to the history class and “the positive impact the addition of this course will have on our students and their future success.” .
The replacement history course includes “the founding of America, the horrors of slavery, the ensuing Civil War, and the Reconstruction era.”
Florida has one of the largest public university systems in the country, with more than 430,000 students.
The move worried sociology professors, who believed it could lead to fewer students taking courses and majoring in the subject. The American Sociological Association said in a statement Wednesday that it was outraged by the decision and that it was made without any “evidential basis.”
“The decision seems to come not from an informed perspective, but rather from a gross misunderstanding of sociology as a illegitimate discipline driven by ‘radical’ and ‘woke’ ideology,” the statement said. “Rather, sociology is the scientific study of social life, social change, and the social causes and consequences of human behavior, which lie at the core of civics and are essential to a wide range of careers.”
In December, Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. He wrote on social media that, “Sociology has been hijacked by left-wing activists and no longer serves its purpose as a general knowledge course for students.”
He added that under Governor DeSantis, “Florida’s higher education system will focus on preparing students for high-demand, high-wage jobs, not ideology.
Some professors supported the move.
Jukka Savolainen, a sociology professor at Wayne State University in Detroit, said in an opinion essay in The Wall Street Journal in December that the discipline was problematic and had become “insolently political.” He called for more opposing views to be included in the teaching of sociology.
“I have been teaching undergraduate sociology courses since 1996,” he wrote. “Over the decades, I have watched my discipline transform from a scientific study of social reality to an academic advocacy for leftist causes.”
In November, the board approved removing Principles of Sociology from the list of courses students can take to satisfy general education requirements. The approval Wednesday finalized that decision after a public comment period.
The course covers issues such as race, gender and sexual orientation, which conservatives in Florida and other states have targeted and tried to curb.
In 2022, Mr. DeSantis signed legislation that limited how racism and other aspects of history are taught in schools and workplaces. The law’s sponsors called it the Stop WOKE Act. Among other things, it prohibits instruction that could make students feel responsible or guilty for the past actions of other members of their tribe.
“The governor-appointed governing bodies that oversee Florida’s institutions of higher education have found a new target in the culture wars they are waging on the state’s campuses,” wrote Anne Barrett, a sociology professor at Florida State University, in an opinion essay published on Wednesday on Wednesday. on the website of the National Education Association.
He wrote that eliminating the course would be “disastrous for sociology in Florida,” adding that “enrollment would plummet. The opportunity to recruit majors will almost disappear. Weakened sociology departments are ripe for shedding and, ultimately, layoffs.”
