Friday, April 17, 2026
Statement on Academic Freedom and the Protection of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies at the University of Texas
The Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (founded in 1948) is deeply concerned about recent actions within the University of Texas system that threaten the principles of academic freedom, intellectual inquiry, and disciplinary autonomy that are foundational to higher education. These developments are particularly alarming for the field of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies and for the scholars, students, and professionals who rely on the strength of these programs. The consequences of weakening this field extend well beyond a single university. They affect the intellectual standing of Texas, the future of American foreign policy expertise, and the vitality of scholarship on one of the world’s most geopolitically consequential regions.
In February of 2026, the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Texas at Austin announced a sweeping restructuring. Several long-standing academic departments are being consolidated into new administrative units. Among these changes is the merging of French and Italian, Germanic Studies, and Slavic and Eurasian Studies into a new Department of European and Eurasian Studies. While presented as administrative restructuring, these changes risk eroding the autonomy, visibility, and institutional support of specialized academic programs that have built internationally recognized scholarly communities for decades.
Texas itself also stands to lose. UT Austin has long been recognized as a leading center for research and teaching on Russia, Eastern Europe, and Eurasia. Programs in Slavic, Eastern European, and Eurasian Studies attract international scholars, support instruction in strategically important languages, prepare students for careers that connect Texas to the wider world, and center Texas in global conversations. Scholars trained in these fields provide the language skills, historical knowledge, and cultural understanding necessary for diplomacy, national security analysis, journalism, and international development. Graduates of these programs go on to work in universities, government agencies, international organizations, think tanks, and media institutions where informed analysis of Eurasia is essential. Weakening these programs would diminish the state’s intellectual leadership and reduce its ability to participate in important scholarly and policy conversations.
Since Russia’s escalation of its war against Ukraine in 2022, political transformations across Eastern Europe and shifting alliances in Central Asia continue to reshape global politics. In this context, weakening one of the nation’s major centers of expertise on Eurasia would be a serious mistake. The United States relies on specialists trained in these fields to interpret complex developments in the region, to inform policy decisions, and to provide accurate historical and cultural context for public debate. Reducing institutional support for this field risks diminishing the pipeline of expertise on which American foreign policy institutions depend.
Recent decisions by the University of Texas System Board of Regents have also introduced policies limiting classroom discussion of controversial topics and requiring faculty to avoid subjects deemed not germane to their courses. Because these policies provide little clarity regarding what constitutes a controversial topic, they risk encouraging self-censorship among faculty and discouraging the open inquiry that universities exist to foster.
For Slavic, Eastern European, and Eurasian Studies, the implications are especially serious. This field is not simply a language program but a major interdisciplinary area of scholarship that examines a vast region encompassing all of Eastern Europe, Russia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. Scholars in this field study imperial legacies, nationalism, war and occupation, authoritarian governance, democratic movements, cultural exchange, and the politics of historical memory. Courses frequently address subjects such as the collapse of the Soviet Union, the history of Stalinism, the Holocaust, contemporary conflicts, and the shifting geopolitical landscape of Eurasia. These topics are complex, politically sensitive, and frequently controversial, yet they are essential for understanding both the past and the present.
Limiting discussion of controversial subjects while consolidating specialized academic units risks creating an environment in which faculty and students feel pressure to avoid the very questions that define the study of Eurasia. Universities flourish when they encourage rigorous debate and fearless inquiry. Avoiding controversial topics does not protect students or strengthen education. Instead, it undermines intellectual engagement and diminishes universities’ capacity to produce knowledge that government and society need.
We urge the leadership of the University of Texas System to reconsider these measures and affirm its commitment to academic freedom, the vitality of Slavic, Eastern European, and Eurasian Studies, and American expertise about this critical region.
ASEEES Executive Committee and the Committee on Academic Freedom and Advocacy