\n<\/p>\n
A<\/span>cross Florida universities, some sociology professors are quietly choosing not to alter their courses in response to new state guidelines restricting how topics like race, gender and sexuality can be discussed. Rather than rewriting syllabi or removing foundational material, as the new demands would call for, they say they are continuing to teach their classes as designed. The professors view the preservation of their curricula not as an act of defiance, but as a professional responsibility to provide students with a full and rigorous education.<\/p>\n In late January, Florida\u2019s department of education introduced what many professors are calling a censored sociology textbook for use in the state\u2019s public colleges and universities, along with a list of proposed guidelines at state schools, restricting various discussions related to systemic discrimination, gender and sexual identity, race-conscious remedies, and the structural causes of inequality. Faculty members say this move reflects a broader effort to narrow academic freedom in higher education and follows several years of legislation aimed at reshaping public university curricula under the banner of combating \u201cwoke ideology\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is part of a coordinated assault on civil rights in the state, in the country, including censoring the nation\u2019s history,\u201d said Zachary Levenson, an associate professor of sociology at Florida International University. \u201cThe warning is clear to professors: shut up or lose your job.\u201d<\/p>\n Professors say the new proposed guidelines, introduced alongside the textbook, are intentionally broad, discouraging instruction that could be interpreted as promoting certain perspectives on privilege, oppression or structural discrimination. \u201cIt\u2019s left at a level of vagueness where it\u2019s unclear what exactly might get faculty in hot water,\u201d said Levenson, who is a United Faculty of Florida union member. \u201cThere is no stated sanction. We have repeatedly requested this language and they refuse to provide it,\u201d he added. FIU did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n Levenson pointed to a list of prohibited topics outlined in the proposed guidelines document, which bars course content that frames systemic or institutional discrimination as a driving cause of present-day inequality, suggests that bias is inherent among Americans or describes institutions as intentionally oppressive. The guidelines also restrict discussions that argue that most gender differences are socially constructed, that propose race-conscious remedies to address historical discrimination or that assert a causal relationship between institutional sexism and unequal outcomes. Even course material explaining how individuals understand or determine their sexual orientation or gender identity falls within the scope of what instructors are instructed to avoid. For sociologists, whose field often analyzes structural inequality through those very lenses, the language is unsettling.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I find most concerning is that we\u2019re in this phase now where instead of telling us what not to teach, they\u2019re telling us what to teach,\u201d Levenson said. \u201cThat feels especially terrifying and authoritarian.\u201d Florida\u2019s department of education did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n Levenson, who has studied historical sociology, said the pattern wasn\u2019t unprecedented. Even where the language does not explicitly forbid a topic, its ambiguity encourages self-censorship, Levenson said.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the purpose of it is to remain at this very ambiguous level so that the chill effect can be really effective,\u201d said an associate professor at Florida International University who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution. \u201cThere\u2019s no discussion, there\u2019s no email trail. And so this is how authoritarianism works: everyone starts complying and stepping into their intended agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n Similar efforts to restrict how universities teach race, gender and inequality have emerged in legislatures across the country. \u201cThis isn\u2019t just about Florida, and it isn\u2019t just about sociology. There\u2019s a much broader attack happening nationally on academic freedom and freedom of speech in universities and elsewhere,\u201d warned Ruth Milkman, a sociology professor at the City University of New York and former president of the American Sociological Association. \u201cI think all of us in academia have an obligation to speak out and protest when our rights are being trampled on. And that\u2019s what\u2019s happening here.\u201d<\/p>\n Levenson pointed to Chile under Augusto Pinochet in the 1970s and \u201880s as one example of where a government didn\u2019t always begin by dismantling entire disciplines outright. Instead, it started by banning certain textbooks, then gradually replaced them with state-approved versions and required their use.<\/p>\n Sociology emerged in the 19th century as a discipline devoted to studying the structures that shape social life, from labor markets to family systems, and education to criminal justice. To remove sustained examination of race, ethnicity and sexual orientation from that framework, scholars argue, is to hollow out the field.<\/p>\n Some faculty members worry about the long-term impact on students, especially those whose identities are directly implicated by the bans. Restrictions on discussing structural inequality, they say, risk sending a message that certain histories and lived experiences of their students are unimportant.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re being told, not only that they don\u2019t matter, but that narrating their own experiences is a threat,\u201d Levenson said.<\/p>\n The legislative push to reshape sociology and other disciplines has been championed in part by Ron DeSantis, Florida\u2019s governor, who is aligned with the national conservative movement \u2013 a loose coalition of thinkers and policymakers who argue that universities have become ideologically captured by progressive values.<\/p>\n \u201cThese are people who are committed to a kind of white replacement theory. They think that their own interests are threatened by the advancement of civil rights for people of color and women and immigrants,\u201d Milkman said. In this zero-sum view, she argued, expanding education about systemic inequality and the historical exploitation of marginalized groups is seen not as progress, but as a threat.<\/p>\n National conservatives often frame their critiques as efforts to restore intellectual balance or prevent political indoctrination. Sociology, with its focus on systemic inequality, becomes a flashpoint in that debate. But faculty members say the framing mischaracterizes the discipline. \u201cThese classes aren\u2019t meant to make white people feel guilty. It\u2019s to give marginalized people words to understand violence and pain and to help them work through it,\u201d the FIU professor said. \u201cIt is so critical that not just people of color, but white students also, have words to understand the world that we now inherit.\u201d<\/p>\n Faculty resistance has taken multiple forms. Some advocates, such as former FIU professor Marvin Dunn, who teaches Black history outdoors, have organized learning opportunities and events for students, separate from universities. Others have coordinated with colleagues across Florida campuses to draft public statements or seek legal analysis.<\/p>\n \u201cPart of the work we\u2019ve been doing is building networks across all the campuses so we can exchange information,\u201d Levenson said. \u201cWe have to know what\u2019s happening across the state so we can all protect ourselves.\u201d Because the union\u2019s collective bargaining agreement guarantees academic freedom, professors like Levenson have the right to take legal action if they are disciplined for refusing to follow the Florida board of governors\u2019 rules on teaching, but the process can be long and exhausting.<\/p>\n The United Faculty of Florida, the statewide union representing many public university professors, has also been vocal about legal protections. \u201cWe\u2019re reminding people that they can\u2019t discipline you based on word of mouth. If they\u2019re threatening to suspend or investigate someone, or issue a letter of caution, it has to be based on something,\u201d said Robert Cassanello, president of United Faculty of Florida and an associate professor of history at the University of Central Florida. \u201cWe\u2019re telling everyone to demand written directives, which would give us grounds for legal challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n Yet union protections themselves are under pressure. Recent legislative proposals could weaken collective bargaining rights for public-sector faculty \u2013 including senate bill 1296, introduced by Republican lawmakers during the 2026 legislative session \u2013 a prospect that has intensified anxiety. The bill is now headed to the senate for a vote.<\/p>\n \u201cWithout union protection, the stakes for speaking out will reach a new level,\u201d said Anne Barrett, a sociology professor at Florida State University. \u201cCollective bargaining agreements provide enforceable protections, including provisions related to academic freedom. Faculty at all ranks will be more exposed to political and administrative pressure.\u201d FSU did not respond to a request for comment. In that kind of environment, self-censorship can become a rational response, inevitably diminishing the integrity of the curriculum.<\/p>\n Tenured professors may feel somewhat insulated, though tenure in Florida is not a means of absolute protection. \u201cIn 2023, the state mandated post-tenure review for university faculty, undermining one of the traditional safeguards of academic freedom. Tenure no longer provides the level of protection from political pressure that it historically did,\u201d Barrett said. Under this new policy, tenured professors must undergo periodic performance evaluations, typically every five years. The reviews are conducted by departments and university administrators, placing greater authority in the hands of boards of trustees who are appointed by state political leaders.<\/p>\n For adjunct and non-tenure-track faculty, who are often employed on a semester-to-semester basis, don\u2019t receive benefits, and in some cases are working multiple jobs to make ends meet, even minor scrutiny can have serious consequences, including the loss of a contract renewal.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s also a risk of being shamed in public, being dragged,\u201d said the FIU professor, mentioning an incident where a sociology professor was attacked on X. \u201cIn this climate, choosing to resist could be very dangerous, especially if you\u2019re part of a marginalized group.\u201d<\/p>\n The censorship is also affecting who wants to work in Florida. \u201cThese attacks on academic freedom are leading to a growing number of professors leaving Florida schools and making it hard to recruit some of the best talent,\u201d said Cassanello, who has been a union member for nearly 20 years. \u201cThe people who are leaving are the people that the lawmakers in the state of Florida want to remain in Florida. They don\u2019t realize the damage they\u2019re doing to higher public higher education.\u201d University of Central Florida did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n For now, several sociology classrooms in Florida continue under heightened scrutiny, even as some professors say they refuse to restrict or alter what they teach. What remains uncertain is whether the discipline can retain its critical core under mounting political scrutiny \u2013 as Barrett put it: \u201cIt is difficult to fully grasp how profoundly our workplaces could change if those protections disappear.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Across Florida universities, some sociology professors are quietly choosing not to alter their courses in response to new state guidelines restricting how topics like race, gender and sexuality can be discussed. Rather than rewriting syllabi or removing foundational material, as the new demands would call for, they say they are continuing to teach their classes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":47062,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[6057,18184,3649,4170,14211,554,2475,4021,6321],"class_list":{"0":"post-47061","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-education","8":"tag-authoritarianism","9":"tag-defy","10":"tag-florida","11":"tag-gender","12":"tag-professors","13":"tag-quietly","14":"tag-race","15":"tag-restrictions","16":"tag-works"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=47061"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47061\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/47062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=47061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=47061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=47061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What the new Florida guidelines prohibit<\/strong><\/h2>\n
The <\/strong>stakes for the <\/strong>discipline<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Organizing and <\/strong>risk<\/strong><\/h2>\n