Texas Republicans passed a law requiring regular general education curricula reviews.<\/p>\n
JasonDoiy\/iStock\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
The University of Houston System Board of Regents has approved removing about 40\u00a0percent of the courses that counted toward its flagship institution\u2019s core curriculum requirements. <\/p>\n
The Houston Chronicle, which reported earlier<\/a> on the vote, said it obtained a list<\/a> of the roughly 100 cut courses, which include Black Liberation Theology, Intro to Global Climate Change, Intro to Ethnic Studies, Intro to LGBT Studies, Intro to Women\u2019s Studies, the Bible and Modern Pop Culture, the History of Jewish Food, Dante and His World, Greek and Roman Myths of Heroes, Entrepreneurship, Tourism, Business Law and Ethics, and more. The University of Houston’s American Association of University Professors chapter provided Inside Higher Ed the same list, though the university and system spokespeople didn\u2019t confirm or deny it.<\/p>\n The system did confirm that the changes, which the board approved unanimously Thursday, drop to the number of core courses students can choose from 241 to 144. The changes affect first-time students starting this fall. Many diversity-related courses will still count toward the core, including Intro to African American Studies, Introduction to Mexican American Studies and Latina\/o Jewish History.<\/p>\n Texas Republican lawmakers passed Senate Bill 37 last year. It, among other things<\/a>, requires public universities\u2019 governing boards to review general education curricula every five years. The new law is part of a trend of red-state legislatures getting increasingly involved in gen ed<\/a>.<\/p>\n SB 37 says the review must ensure the required courses are \u201cnecessary to prepare students for civic and professional life,\u201d among other such broad, undefined criteria. The board\u2019s vote Thursday was couched as part of the SB 37 review, but the University of Houston AAUP chapter has argued administrators are reading the law wrong. <\/p>\n