Over the past decade, centers and institutes devoted to the study of Western civilization and American civics have popped up on numerous public university campuses. Typically backed by conservative lawmakers, versions of this concept have taken root at universities in Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, and Tennessee. In Texas, an entirely new private university, the University of Austin, now offers students a curriculum steeped in the study of Western thought.

At a recent live taping at SXSW EDU, Jack Stripling, host of College Matters, talked with Jacob Howland, the University of Austin’s provost, and Pauline Strong, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, about what this growing trend says about the politics of higher education.

Related Reading:

How a Center for Civic Education Became a Political Provocation (The Chronicle)

We Can’t Wait for Universities to Fix Themselves. So We’re Starting a New One. (Free Press)

Billionaires Back New ‘Anti-Woke’ University (The Wall Street Journal)

A New Birth of Freedom in Higher Education: Civics Institutes at Public Universities (AEI)

Guests:

Jacob Howland, provost and dean of intellectual foundations at the University of Austin

Pauline Strong, director of the Program in Native American and Indigenous Studies and a professor of anthropology at the University of Texas at Austin. Strong is president of the American Association of University Professors' chapter at UT Austin.

For more on today’s episode, visit chronicle.com/collegematters. We aim to make transcripts available within a day of an episode’s publication.

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