Senior Hannah Mendoza chose sociology as a minor — not just for the coursework, but also as a “middle finger” to the powers that be, who have stripped sociology from the general education curriculum.
For Mendoza, that’s her way of fighting back against the draconian changes to Florida’s higher education over the last couple of years.
The Board of Governors’ (BOG) made the decision to remove sociology as a gen ed requirement in January. Philip Lewin, associate chair of the sociology department, said the academic freedom of students is being taken away.
Since many students don’t get exposure to sociology topics in high school, Lewin said college classrooms are a place where they can discover these subjects that challenge their thinking.
“With students basically not having any sort of incentive to take these classes, they probably won't do it, which is going to further harm departments like ours,” Lewin said.
More recently, FAU’s Board of Trustees (BOT) voted in August to drop 23 courses, according to a memo from the BOT, mostly in social sciences and humanities, from the gen ed curriculum to comply with state laws. Florida statute 1007.25 states classes “based on theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression, and privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States” are not permitted to be taught. These changes will go into effect next fall at FAU.
Some of the 23 courses fall under the “Foundations in Global Citizenship” general education requirement that will be affected by this decision next year. FAU’s website states that general education courses, like those under Global Citizenship, “provide a foundation of knowledge that all well-educated students should possess.”
While Lewin is concerned about the decision alone, he said what’s more concerning is how it was made.
“This stuff kind of happens under the radar,” he said. “With an institution like the BOG, it's an unelected group of people who are appointed by the governor, who, for the most part, have absolutely no background whatsoever in higher education. Yet they're the ones who are setting the tone of what education is going to look like in our state at the direction of the governor.”
Lewin said the changes felt “insulting” when he first heard about them because the state is sending a message that what these departments are teaching has no value.
One course being removed as a general education requirement is Global Society. Lewin said this class teaches students about global inequalities and issues.
What used to be a course that drew in hundreds of students will either be scaled back or removed entirely next year, Lewin said.
He said sociology departments provide classes that put a critical lens on society and require students to ask questions that “improve the democratic nature of societies.”
“The feeling of censorship is unsettling,” Lewin said. “You know that there are certain ideas that are basically forbidden and that you can be reprimanded, if not fired, for teaching [them]. It’s some ‘1984’ or ‘Brave New World’ sort of stuff.”
Student Government (SG) President Stefan Andjelkovic said the BOT is complying with the change so the university aligns with state statutes, and therefore “there's nothing really I can comment on this matter.”
University spokesperson Joshua Glanzer echoed a similar sentiment, stating the proposal was approved to follow state statutes.
Andjelkovic acknowledged students may have mixed opinions but didn’t offer his personal views or how SG feels about the changes.
Mendoza said that while the changes raise censorship concerns, she doesn’t blame student leaders for not speaking out against them because “there’s a lot of fear.”
“It's kind of like the same thing of saying, ‘Take shorter showers’ when Coca-Cola is dumping millions of pounds of trash and waste into the water. I'm not saying we don't have power, because we do. But honestly, I am kind of lost, which makes me sad,” she said. “You can't just pretend that this kind of stuff doesn't happen or doesn't exist. I'm 24, I'm not 12.”
Mendoza said she’s noticed some professors become anxious about the decision, but she admires their ability to push through the lessons and put students first.
This anxiety is reflective of an internal “chaos” within the department, Lewin said.
Some professors are staying, some are indecisive, and some have been leaving after teaching at FAU for over a decade. Lewin said regardless of each decision, most are worried about the sustainability of their jobs if student enrollment in the department drops off.
Lewin said the department’s biggest issue usually is trying to handle too many students enrolled in sociology courses.
For the future, Lewin said he hopes the state stops treating universities like “vocational training centers” and instead treats them as forums for students to freely think and ask questions.
“People obviously need a career [after college], but I don't think that's all that a university should be,” he said. “My hope is that those attacks not only reverse but that we come back and [carry out] our mission stronger and more effectively than we did in the past.”
Here is a list of the classes, according to a memo from FAU, that have been removed from the general education requirements since 09/01/2024
Honors Freshman Seminar in Anthropology
Honors Magic, Witchcraft and Religion
Honors Installation Art
Honors Freshman Seminar in Biology
Digital Culture
Honors Freshman Seminar in Economics
Contemporary Economic Issues
The Educated Citizen in a Global Context
RI: Disability and Society
University Honors Seminar in Writing
Special Topics: College Writing II
Honors Freshman Seminar in Environmental Studies
Honors Comedy and the Devil
Honors Freshman Seminar In Literature
Special Topics in Literature
Culture Consumers and the Global Marketplace
Honors Topics in Mathematics
Changing Environment of Society, Business, Government
Honors of Ethics of Social Diversity
Honors Punishment
Honors Freshman in Sociology
Social Problems
Honors History of Food and Eating
Meanwhile these courses have been altered to align with the new laws
Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Honors Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Microeconomics Principles
Honors Microeconomics Principles
Digital Literacy
Human Dimensions of Environmental Change
Environment and Society
Honors Environment and Society
Film Appreciation
Global Jewish Communities
Introduction to Language
Perspectives on Language
Introduction to World Literature
Introduction to Weather and Climate
World Music
Risk and Resilience to Natural Hazards
Perspectives of Social Services
Public Speaking
Global Society
Designing the City
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