Florida Public Universities Replace Sociology With U.S. History Course In Core Curriculum

Students at Florida’s 12 public universities will be offered an American history class instead of sociology as an option in the general education core curriculum, the state university system’s board of governors announced Wednesday.

This follows a similar move last week by Florida’s Board of Education, which banned the use of public funds for diversity, equity and inclusion programs at all 28 state colleges in Florida, in what appears to be yet another effort by the Republican-led state to clamp down on education.

The Principles of Sociology course, which students were previously able to take to satisfy the core curriculum’s social sciences requirement, will be replaced by Introductory Survey to 1877. The new option provides “a historically accurate account of America’s founding, the horrors of slavery, the resulting Civil War, and the Reconstruction era,” the board of governors said in a press release.

Chancellor Ray Rodrigues said that he was “proud” of the decision, adding that he expects the change to have a “positive impact” on students.

“Florida’s students of our State University System will have the opportunity to learn about the creation and development of our nation as part of the core course options,” Rodrigues said.

Three members of the board of governors voted against the change, including Ashley Bell Barnett, who said that there is value in studying “the history of some of the various movements, and Marxism and all that are important to look at society today.”

“There is a difference between exposure and indoctrination on how beliefs in the sociology courses are taught,” she said, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

Meanwhile, the board of education’s decision last week was unanimous.

“Sociology has been