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In 1999 -- NINETEEN NINETY-NINE!!! -- I took an intro class at UT called "African Intellectual Thought," and it was rigorous and excellent, and it will not surprise you at all that none of the texts we read were written by people on this list. Just so depressing what's being done to my alma mater.

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5/10/26, 4:02 pm21 reposts78 likes

Dave

@dept-of-dave.bsky.social

I have an engineering degree that was nearly completely void of any sort of philosophy requirements. And even so, “50” seems like an IMPOSSIBLY small and myopic number of writers to form the basis of any modern curriculum…

Lizzz Farrell

@lizzz-818.bsky.social

It's for the *foundational* part of the requirements. It's for critical thinking, cultural literacy, and archetypal understanding. It's not in any way a final list. It's for some 2027-28 classes. Faculty isn't limited to that list, they are just required to include readings from that list.

Dave

@dept-of-dave.bsky.social

I guess the words “must” and “half” mean something different to you than they do to me.

Lizzz Farrell

@lizzz-818.bsky.social

Probably because I've 50 years of college education and know how it works.

Steve Middlebrook

@stmdc.bsky.social

Gotta love that the list is alphabetized by first name.

Lydia E. Ferguson

@docfergus.bsky.social

Glad they decided to include a few women on the list; otherwise, this could come off as hella sexist.

War on Christmas Kamikaze

@dylpickles626.bsky.social

Martin Luther but no Martin Luther King is an insane choice for an American university.

Lizzz Farrell

@lizzz-818.bsky.social

Read the new core curriculum docs at the Austin website. Faculty can & will include MLK. The list of 50 refers to *foundational* lit of western civ, which is what we are. Six units (2 classes) were dropped from the reqs so if you want to study post-gender anarchy in eastern Cuba, you still can.