Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is set to step into the classroom next spring at the University of Texas at Austin. The conservative justice will lead a weeklong seminar examining American history, race, equality, and freedom through the perspectives of influential Black political thinkers and civil rights leaders.
According to CBS Austin, Thomas will teach 17 undergrad students enrolled in a one-credit-hour discussion course titled “Equality and the New Birth
of Freedom.” The seminar will be offered through UT Austin’s School of Civic Leadership, with Dean Justin Dyer overseeing the majority of the semester. The selected students represent several academic disciplines, including government, economics, business, engineering, psychology, the Plan II honors program, and Civics Honors.Thomas is scheduled to be on campus Feb. 1-5, 2027. Dyer will lead the remaining sessions, meet with students, and grade their coursework. The seminar’s
curriculum will examine the nation’s founding, the Civil War, and contemporary debates surrounding equality and freedom. Its reading list features prominent Black historical figures and civil rights leaders, including Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X. Students will also examine how questions of race and equality have influenced recent Supreme Court decisions, according to Our Austin.The announcement follows Thomas’ April 15 appearance at the university, where he delivered a lecture at Hogg Memorial Auditorium, commemorating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. During that appearance, he discussed the importance of restoring civics and Western civilization education to a central place in university curricula.
“I hope that my talk today will help in some small way to inaugurate another great initiative,” Thomas said.
Thomas joined the U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 23, 1991,
following his appointment by President George H.W. Bush. Before joining the nation’s highest court, he served as chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from 1982 to 1990 and held several other government and legal positions.RELATED CONTENT: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas Admits Failing To Report Free Trips From GOP Billionaire