UT To Launch New Strategy and Statecraft, Great Books Majors With NEH Grant

AUSTIN, Texas - The University of Texas at Austin plans to launch two new undergraduate majors in the School of Civic Leadership that will teach students about the founding ideas of Western civilization and prepare them with the knowledge and judgment to strategically defend America's interests in a complex world.

A $10 million grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities will fund 16 new faculty positions across both majors. The majors will launch in Fall 2027 pending approval by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Students who apply to UT during this fall's application cycle will be able to select either major.

The Great Books Major will immerse students in texts that have shaped Western civilization from the ancient world to the modern era. Students will be able to pursue it alongside other degrees to apply an informed world view to decisions they make in their chosen professions. For example, students pursuing careers in medicine or other STEM fields who may face ethical questions will be equipped with the ability to examine outcomes through a civics-informed lens.

The Strategy and Statecraft Major will provide humanities-based training for students entering national security and foreign policy careers. Students will study foundational texts of strategy and examine diplomatic and military history from American and global perspectives, combined with technical training and internship placement.

Alexander Duff, associate professor in the School of Civic Leadership, describes the degrees as responding to a profound societal need. He said fewer than 1 in 5 Americans can name the three branches of government. Even fewer can explain the principles of the Declaration of Independence or the architecture of the Constitution.

"Students are emerging from our most prestigious institutions able to code, to quantify, and to critique, but unable to speak coherently about justice, law, liberty, or the human good," said Duff. "Students who become educated in America's founding and the roots of Western civilization will become wiser, more capable of judgment and more capable of prudent consideration of one another in the society that we share."

The School of Civic Leadership welcomed its inaugural cohort in Fall 2025. Strategy and Statecraft and Great Books both complement the existing civics honors program, in which students explore economic numeracy, Western civilization, and constitutional heritage. The honors major intersects with disciplines across the Forty Acres including health care, government, business, law, science and technology.