WashU’s College of Arts & Sciences is forming a new task force to consider the reorganization or combination of what are currently six separate departments: African and African American Studies (AFAS); Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS); Jewish, Islamic, and Middle Eastern Studies (JIMES); Education; Global Studies; and American Culture Studies (AMCS). 

The task force, temporarily titled “Social Transformation,” will hold its first meeting next week and intends to release its recommendations regarding the proposed restructuring by mid-March. The final decision on any reconfiguration will then be made by the Dean of Arts & Sciences Feng Sheng Hu.

Led by co-chairs Shanti Parikh, Chair of AFAS, and Stephanie Kirk, Director of the Center for the Humanities, the task force was created by Dean Hu and includes representatives from each affected department. Additionally, three professors will advise the group, serving as liaisons between the committee and administrators. 

Dean Hu declined to comment for this article, and Chancellor Andrew Martin said it was “not on [his] radar.” 

The task force was not created with a predetermined outcome in mind, and the group is exploring various organizational structures, such as creating one interdisciplinary department that contains the six smaller departments or some combination of them. Kirk and Parikh both wrote to Student Life that no final decisions have been made about the potential configuration of the departments at this time.

The work of the task force is not expected to prevent currently enrolled students from completing the degree programs that they are already pursuing.

Parikh wrote to Student Life that the stated aim of the task force is to “explore how smaller units can be better supported by reducing administrative burdens, fostering innovation, and strengthening visibility.” She said that administrators cited the relatively small size of the six departments and their overlapping focuses on social and cultural issues as another reason for grouping them together. 

AMCS Academic Coordinator Karen Skinner does not believe that the departments have shared academic focuses. 

“This is not an academic choice,” Skinner said. “It is not based on the field and how we operate and how universities have operated since the ‘60s and ‘70s, and it is totally unclear how this is going to serve the students. These are all separate fields.” 

Andrew Butler, professor of Education and Psychological & Brain Sciences, noted that smaller departments often face heavy administrative workloads that limit faculty’s ability to teach. 

“Faculty are here to do research, to teach, and when you are burdened with lots of administrative stuff, you can’t do as much,” Butler said. “I think it’s also a way to think about how we could help by reorganizing the administrative structures to free faculty to do the things that they’re really committed [to doing].”

He stated that departments that are too small can be unsustainable, creating risks if faculty members leave and the department is unable to support its students.

Additionally, the creation of the task force comes amid broader pressures faced by WashU and other universities, including heightened scrutiny of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programming and cuts to federal funding. Parikh wrote that this national backdrop complicates the work of the task force.

“The timing of this initiative is one of its biggest challenges, as it comes during a national climate where universities are under political attack, WashU is being portrayed as capitulating or reinventing itself, and there are explicit national efforts to suppress or defund the very kinds of questions and knowledge that fields like Black Studies and Women’s Studies have long advanced,” Parikh wrote.

Marlon Bailey, a professor in the AFAS and WGSS departments, emphasized the distinction between the DEI initiatives targeted by Trump and the academic departments under consideration for restructuring. 

“These programs do not do diversity, equity, inclusion. And that’s no shade to DEI, but we are intellectual, scholarly, pedagogical departments and units. We produce knowledge,” Bailey said.

Bailey added that faculty in AFAS expressed feelings of “concern, fear, and unsafety” when told about the reconfiguration plans. Similarly, Skinner said that the potential reconfiguration has “created a culture of fear and immense stress.” 

“I have so much grief, I’ve been crying about it, because what is our future?” Skinner said. “All the plans that we have for this year, our strategic plans are all suspended and in flux because we have no idea what this is going to look like.” 

Butler clarified that this proposition is not being labeled as a cost-saving measure since many of the smaller departments already have shared staff for tasks like human resources and finances. 

“In a way, we have a lot of the things that would be cost-saving already in place, so I don’t think that this reorganization would achieve a substantial amount of financial benefit for Arts & Sciences, which is what makes me buy into the idea that this really is about … how you free faculty up to be their best selves,” Butler said.

As the University considers different configurations, Kirk and WGSS Chair Diana O’Brien noted that the task force hopes to learn from New York University’s (NYU) Department of Social and Cultural Analysis. NYU created this department in 2005 as a consolidation of five existing programs and currently includes majors in Africana Studies, American Studies, Asian/Pacific/American Studies, Latino Studies, Gender & Sexuality Studies, and Urban Studies.

“We plan to talk to members of this [department] and see what we can learn from them — what has worked, what has been challenging, things like that,” Kirk wrote. “But of course, the most important aspect we need to focus on is understanding the distinct needs of each of these programs and departments here at WashU.”

Several faculty members mentioned the need to incorporate input from affected students and faculty members into the task force’s recommendations. 

“This is a serious, complicated undertaking, and it would not be well-received by the faculty, students, and staff if this is rushed through without the sufficient amount of input, engagement, and involvement from folks directly impacted,” Bailey said.

Bailey added that the perspectives of untenured faculty, in particular, must be taken into account, as they “feel the most vulnerable” at this time.

Further, Parikh, Kirk, and Butler said that they want to listen to feedback from affected students and faculty and ensure that it is reflected in the task force’s recommendations.

“It’s not just us deciding things. It’s each of us, who is on the task force, being a liaison to our community … so that everybody here in this community feels like they have a say in what’s happening,” Butler said. 

Additional reporting by Astrid Burns

Editor’s Note: The article was updated at 8:45 a.m. on Sept. 10 to clarify that, in addition to Butler, the task force co-chairs want to include faculty and student feedback into the task force’s decision-making. The article was updated again at 6:57 a.m. on Sept. 11 to clarify that the task force will provide recommendations to Dean Hu who will make the final decision on any potential reconfiguration.