Board of education replaces course at 12 public universities with own US history curriculum, in latest ‘anti-woke’ attack

Educators are warning that college enrollment in Florida will plummet after the state removed sociology as a core class from campuses in the latest round of Ron DeSantis’s war on “woke ideology”.

The Republican governor’s hand-picked board of education voted on Wednesday to replace the established course on the principles of sociology at its 12 public universities with its own US history curriculum, incorporating an “historically accurate account of America’s founding [and] the horrors of slavery”.

The board faced a backlash last summer for requiring public schools to teach that forced labor was beneficial to enslaved Black people because it taught them useful skills.

The removal as a required core course of sociology classes, which Florida education commissioner and staunch DeSantis acolyte Manny Díaz insisted without evidence had “been hijacked by leftwing activists”, follows several other recent “anti-woke” moves in education in Florida.

  • InternetUser2012@midwest.social
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    5 months ago

    I really, really wanted to move to Florida. It was my dream. I finally adulted, quit drinking, quit smoking, got my shit together. Now, I’m in a position where I could move but there’s no way in hell I’d even go back there on vacation now. They’ve ruined the state, ruined my dream.

  • jaybone@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Nobody is going to respect any kind of degree from these universities.

    Why would you pay to go to school where your credentials will mean Jack shit to anyone?

    What a joke.

    • butterflyattack@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      I mean, people paid to attend trump ‘university’. There are always plenty of fools who will buy stupid shit. I kind of feel sorry for the students though. Most people are pretty young at university age and many are still forming their perspectives. Getting away from home and meeting new people is an important part of this. Plenty of people from conservative families go away to uni and start to see that they’ve been brought up on bullshit. This is an attempt to stop that from happening - the ‘anti-woke’ shit will attract more conservative students which will reduce the chance that any of them will encounter different views and cultures so they stay in their ignorance bubble. Don’t want little Johnny or Jane coming home from school an anarchist! It’s sad for the students though who will come away in massive debt with a useless degree and have less opportunity for healthy change.

    • BeautifulMind ♾️@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      One wonders what will happen to these schools’ accreditations, really.

      I mean, if you’re teaching something you call history and you don’t teach students how to put the course content in its historical context and interrogate those sources critically, you’re not teaching them history, you’re indoctrinating them.

      …tho to be fair, that’s honestly what passes for US History in most US schools. The more history I learn, the more I realize most of us aren’t taught

      • aidan@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        I mean if you’ve been following the news on university leadership, I don’t think Florida universities are the only ones in trouble

      • prole@sh.itjust.works
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        5 months ago

        Right, because they’re the only ones that the state of Florida has control over.

        I’m not going to look it up to confirm, but I would guess that’s all of their state universities.

    • mods_are_assholes@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      That’s what Derpsantis wants, a state full of workers that have no choice but to fall into the labor and low rung office pool.

      The elite DON"T want normal kids getting degrees, because then they compete (successfully) with their ignorant as shit trustfund crotchfruit.

  • rusticus@lemm.ee
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    5 months ago

    “the belief there are systemic injustices in American society and the need to address them.”

    For those wondering, this is the definition of “woke” by Rhonda Sandtits lead counsel.

    Being “anti-woke” is a dog whistle for racism, sexism, xenophobia and bigotry.

    • laughterlaughter@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Good argument, but in my opinion (and it’s just like, my opinion, man), calling him Rhonda Sandtits is weird if you’re pro-trans (or at least anti-anti-trans.)

  • kandoh@reddthat.com
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    5 months ago

    It’s interesting how conservatives are using the power of the state to mold the population to their liking.

    • Rob@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      It’s interesting terrifying how conservatives are using the power of the state to mold the population to their liking.

      FTFY

    • jkrtn@lemmy.ml
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      5 months ago

      Surely Repubs wouldn’t tell lies that they want “small government” while simultaneously legislating what we can learn, who we can love, and what women are allowed to do with their bodies?

      • makunamatata@discuss.tchncs.de
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        5 months ago

        And here is what will happen next: The 47th president of the USA , donning golden sneakers, will make America great again, this time for real, in their alternate reality. His tropical White House in Palm Beach, FL, where confidential documents are stored in a “safe bathroom,” is a demonstration that “there is no need to spend money” and everything is small (including his hands and his mushroom shaped…feet).

        The government will make sure that there is no regulation on guns, but right to chose will be banned for good, so that the “barbarian women” don’t do anything to babies - these will be able to pay more taxes in the future, for the smallest government.

        Slavery will be taught to have been the greatest hoax, and books will explain that it allowed people to get on their feet and buy their freedom.

        There will be no limit on what tax savings the rich can get, including receiving money back they didn’t pay, by receiving loans that are forgiven later, and every worker household will have had a chance to pay more taxes, while being fed that taxes are being lowered.

        Healthcare marketplace will end, because the 47th will come up with a better plan after killing what exists already. Universal healthcare will be given to all Americans, and will consist of everyone having the right to one primary care physician visit per year, then complement healthcare needs with access to bank loans, to do whatever other treatment one may need. It will be a beautiful plan, the greatest plan… no sick left behind. The economy will grow because banks will have branches inside hospitals and pharmacies; banks will have trillions in loans due to them at all times. Debt will increase, sure, but who cares, current Repubs won’t be around to pay for it.

        • RedFox@infosec.pub
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          5 months ago

          I think you’re describing the movie Idiocracy.

          First on their agenda, reading is for queers

          /s

          • makunamatata@discuss.tchncs.de
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            5 months ago

            Brilliant, it is a plot for a movie!!

            In “Idiocracy: Making America Great Again,” we dive headfirst into an alternate reality where the 47th president of the USA, sporting golden sneakers and a penchant for grandiosity, leads America down a path of absurdity and excess. His tropical White House in Palm Beach, FL, complete with a “safe bathroom” for confidential documents, epitomizes his mantra of “spending less, achieving more” – even if everything, including his hands and his mushroom-shaped feet, is smaller than advertised.

            Under his reign, guns are glorified and regulation-free, while the right to choose is brutally snatched away to ensure the “barbarian women” don’t interfere with the future tax-paying workforce. Slavery is whitewashed as a stepping stone to freedom, and tax breaks for the wealthy flow like champagne at a yacht party, with the middle class left to foot the bill under the guise of “lower taxes for all.”

            But fear not, for universal healthcare emerges as the president’s pièce de résistance – a masterstroke of simplicity where every American is entitled to one primary care physician visit per year, with the rest of their medical needs financed through bank loans. It’s hailed as the greatest plan in history, despite leaving most citizens one illness away from bankruptcy.

            As banks thrive within hospitals and pharmacies, debt skyrockets, but who cares when the future is someone else’s problem? With “Idiocracy: Making America Great Again,” prepare for a rollercoaster ride through a world where the motto is “Welcome to Costco, I love you!” and absurdity reigns supreme and the only certainty is laughter through the tears.

            By Fox Films

        • butterflyattack@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          I’d completely forgotten that we all discovered the president has a nasty little mushroom dick. I’d actually manage to put the image of that man’s malformed cock out of my mind. You just reminded me. Bastard.

          • makunamatata@discuss.tchncs.de
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            5 months ago

            He dismissed the idea that it was little and ordered his staff to show the actual size. The folks in the south were able to source a specimen of size and actual proportions in their alternate reality.

  • ME5SENGER_24@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    DeSantis has to be a marketing major. The dude is the ultimate panderer. He understands the people of his state and shifts every movement towards their appeasement. All except the state’s populace. He understands the county count for votes and says to himself fuck the cities and the people in favor of the rednecks and MAGA-otts.

    Anti-communism warnings to the Cubans and Venezuelans and you win the south. Pro-KKK and you win the north. Some Werther’s caramels and you win the center.

    Before you think it, I don’t think he’s a good person. I think he’s an absolute shithead. I just applaud the stupidity of where my parents live.

    (Fun fact, I had sane parents….until they moved to Florida, now we barely on speaking terms)

    • Everythingispenguins@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      Nope he has a B.A. in history from Yale and a J.D. from Harvard. Plus some time as a J.A.G.

      I might have too rethink 'Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it."

      • tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip
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        5 months ago

        Amazing how just a handful of the richest assholes can astroturf their way to whatever they want, given just a few decades. You’d think it’d take more than that to control one of the world’s richest countries.

  • mods_are_assholes@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    While all of you joke and meme in this thread, fascism marches forward.

    Incalculable damage has been done to our education system over the years AND EVERY FUCKDAMN TIME IT IS A REPUBLICUNT BEHIND IT.

  • /home/pineapplelover@lemm.ee
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    5 months ago

    Although the general education classes like psychology and sociology are annoying, they’re all essential knowledge for being an educated human being. It’s a shame Florida wants their population to be ignorant conservatives.

    • spacesatan@lemm.ee
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      5 months ago

      Sociology maybe, I don’t know about the intro to psychology experience of ‘hey check out all these famous theories, paradigms, and experiments. At least half of which are largely disproven or under serious doubt but we wont say which.’

      • Jiggle_Physics@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        Depends on the school and professor I guess. My intro to psych class made it clear how much older paradigms are, basically, just flights of fancy, however there is a foundation of moving towards a system of discovery and diagnoses that was important, instead of literally super natural explanations. With new stuff they went over how difficult it is to create solid proofs and the reasons why. They also would do what they could to make sure we understood why they came to the conclusions they did and the short comings of those reasons and practices.

        • braxy29@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          i would add to this that early conceptualizations of psychology have had massive cultural impacts. if you enjoy art, film, literature from the last century and change, it’s worth knowing about Freud and Jung.

          their ideas represent an evolution of thinking about people, their minds, their relationships to others and to their environment or to god, but they also underpin so much we take for granted at present in popular culture and day-to-day conversation (at least in “the west”).

          • Jiggle_Physics@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            Yes, didn’t want a wall of text explaining all the context the course provided about the different times and now. The roots of it are clearly what we would now consider quackery. However the simple foundational idea that there is something identifiable, explainable, and maybe curable was revolutionary. This was in a time when explanations ran from miasma to demonic possession. So it is worth knowing about for the historical perspective, I totally agree. I was just more sorta shocked there are professors still telling people that our scientific body is the ultimate facts on the matter.

        • spacesatan@lemm.ee
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          5 months ago

          Yeah much better, ‘hey check out a half century of our field producing mostly bullshit, this is a good use of your time.’

          My point being if you can’t put together a full 1 term curriculum of “here are the fundamentals of our field that we are sure or 99% sure about” then maybe its not a productive use of time to require every single college student spend a class on it.

          If you want a history of science class then have a history of science class.

          • Jiggle_Physics@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            Well I am sorry that you see no value in understanding how the thing you are studying came to be. However, the majority of people do. Literally every subject I learned did this.

            • spacesatan@lemm.ee
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              5 months ago

              I don’t remember chemistry 101 being 70% about alchemy and phlogiston. This is almost exclusively a phenomenon with intro psychology classes.

              If you want to study it fine whatever but there’s no reason it should be a standard GE requirement instead of something like philosophy of science, international relations, genocide studies, etc.

              • Jiggle_Physics@lemmy.world
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                5 months ago

                You went to a very different school than I did. We absolutely learned about the development of chemistry in introductory courses. Same with mathematics, physics, etc. This even included getting into how they co-developed. There was a deeper dive into in the liberal arts because it’s it is more important, as they are less mechanical, but STEM definitely got into the basic history of the subject.

    • KoalaUnknown@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      classes like psychology and sociology are annoying

      Sociology was my favorite general ED class outside of my discipline. I’m sure it varies by teacher but it can be really fun and interesting!

    • spider@lemmy.nz
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      5 months ago

      ignorant conservatives

      If you’re referring to today’s definition of “conservative”, then that’s redundant.

      • Evkob@lemmy.ca
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        5 months ago

        When was conservatism not ignorant? Certainly not in my lifetime. It’s been an ideology of anti-intellectualism for at least three decades now.

        • cygnus@lemmy.ca
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          5 months ago

          It’s been an ideology of anti-intellectualism for at least three decades now.

          30 years is maybe pushi… Oh wait, that’s only 1994. Yeah, you’re right.

          • otp@sh.itjust.works
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            5 months ago

            I feel like Conservatism USED to be “How can we save money and prepare for a better financial future as a country/state/etc.?”…

            It kind of moved along the lines of “How can we stop financially supporting things and people that are different to us?”

            Now, the financial part is just an excuse.

            • grue@lemmy.world
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              5 months ago

              I feel like Conservatism USED to be “How can we save money and prepare for a better financial future as a country/state/etc.?”…

              No, that’s always been nothing more than a lie conservatives tell to try to excuse their abhorrent policies.

              What conservatism really used to be was defending the monarchy, and it still is. I was going to say “…and the only thing that’s changed is that they no longer try to use ‘divine right’ as a justification and prefer a different title for the autocrat in charge,” but nope!

              • Every conservative I know I have tricked into defending the British at the Boston Massacre and at the Boston Tea Party. Just don’t drop the name of the event and they will go nuts. Kids throwing snowballs at police? No wonder they got shot, they asked for it. Adults breaking into private property and destroying it, that’s not a protest that’s a riot!

            • spider@lemmy.nz
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              5 months ago

              Now, the financial part is just an excuse.

              Indeed, and they have no problem pissing away taxpayer dollars for migrant flights, lawsuits, etc.

    • kromem@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      It’s a shame Florida wants their population to be ignorant conservatives.

      Look at the entrance polls for the Republican primaries.

      There’s a 30 point spread between Trump’s support depending if the person went to college or not.

      How much is correlation vs cause and effect is debatable, but certainly in a democracy an educated public can’t hurt.

    • Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      classes like psychology and sociology are annoying

      It’s a bummer that you had that experience. Mine were absolutely fascinating. That said, my school had some flagship social science departments, so the people that instructed there were not the b-team.

      If a university doesn’t have a good program in a particular discipline, good people don’t want to work there, and the current staff often don’t have the expertise to hire for it.

      • grue@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        The quality of an overall department and the quality of classes taken by non-majors to fulfill degree requirements are two different things. For example, my university has a great architecture school, but that didn’t stop the “history of industrial design” class I took to fulfill my art requirement (as an engineering major) from being mostly an exercise in memorizing pictures of chairs.

        • Bakkoda@sh.itjust.works
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          5 months ago

          English comp at RIT back when it was trimesters. I’ll never understand. Not a technical writing class or shutting that could really benefit a tech heavy student base. English comp freshman year. Miserable.

          • 🐍🩶🐢@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            Thankfully I transferred in and didn’t have to take miserable English courses by a tech focused University. The technical writing course I had to take at RIT was easy mode. The guy gave us all of the homework for the entire quarter on the first day and as long as it was all turned in before then, that was ok. It was a required class that I personally did not need due to my previous education and I don’t think I spent more than a few hours total to get an A.

            • Bakkoda@sh.itjust.works
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              5 months ago

              Yeah i desperately needed a technical writing course at that age. I was a hot mess. I most certainly didn’t need an English comp class where i was actually required to turn in one of those awful black and white composition pads at the end to pass. I hard noped and took it the next trimester with a bunch of upper class kids who needed it and it was a walk in the park.

              • 🐍🩶🐢@lemmy.world
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                5 months ago

                It was a shame that a lot of classes at RIT could be really hit or miss depending on the professor. I graduated before they went to semesters, and you had no time to be sick, lost, or behind. I tried to sign up for an extra class every quarter so I could have the option to withdraw from one of them and still be full time. Knowing when to withdraw, especially not waiting until the last minute, was a lesson I wished I knew that first year I was there.

                Technical writing is very much not the same as general English composition, and I always hated it when schools lump it together. To this day I still work with people who don’t even know where to start. Having a bunch of robotics engineers balk at having to write documentation about their own designs blew my mind. It wasn’t even the manuals, just general design and functional specifications. Less than 10 pages, half of them pictures. I was nice and made the skeleton for them with some notes on what information I needed in which sections. Hopefully, they learned from it.

        • Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          Did your university have a good industrial design or product design department? Industrial design is very very different than architecture. (I went to school for industrial design and instructed university courses in the department)

          • grue@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            It appears to be ranked in the top 10 in the lists I checked, so yes.

            • Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world
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              5 months ago

              Interesting. Bummer that you got a shit class. Mine GE history glass was pretty good, and it got into the different design movements, what drove them, and how they impacted industrialization, usability, accessibility, and other elements of contemporary life.

      • /home/pineapplelover@lemm.ee
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        5 months ago

        They’re alright classes. I enjoyed the professors I had but I feel like the majority of people want to speed through the GEs and get going on their actual major classes.

          • /home/pineapplelover@lemm.ee
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            5 months ago

            I remember writing a research paper on roe v wade not to long ago. Thought it would be an easy paper that’s kind of socially acceptable and not at all controversial. Found out that conservatives do wild shit like kill doctors and harass rape victims. I hate society.

      • Riccosuave@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        That’s literally the definition of indoctrination, which is ironic considering that is what they are purportedly trying to prevent.

        The irony being that they want to make sure students in Florida aren’t indoctrinated with facts supported by evidence because that is fucking woke.

        • spider@lemmy.nz
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          5 months ago

          That’s literally the definition of indoctrination, which is ironic considering that is what they are purportedly trying to prevent.

          And, of course, they’re doing the same thing with “freedom”.

          • Riccosuave@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            Oh no, I understand just fine. They are rigging the system to create an entire generation if ignorant wage slave voters regardless of whether they have the means to attain higher education or not. This in turn creates a cycle that is incredibly hard to break, and that has far reaching repercussions on the electorate for years to come.

  • AnneBonny@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    5 months ago

    The Republican governor’s hand-picked board of education voted on Wednesday to replace the established course on the principles of sociology at its 12 public universities with its own US history curriculum, incorporating an “historically accurate account of America’s founding [and] the horrors of slavery”.

    Where can I find details about this course?

  • grue@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Every Florida college ought to immediately lose its accreditation because of this.