The School of Civic Leadership at UT-Austin has introduced a new endeavor to explore “the influence of Jewish ideas and Jewish history on the Western world and the American republic.”
According to a university press release, the Ackerman Program on Jewish and Western Civilization and the Rosenthal-Levy Scholars program will launch in the Fall 2026 semester.
Supplemental funding for this initiative comes from “$12.5 million of generous philanthropic support from Tomas and Abby Ackerman, Gary and Lee Rosenthal, and Paul and Karen Levy.” Ackerman is a university alum.
The Ackerman program includes four components: a series of new courses on the classic works of Jewish civilization, a new study abroad program in Israel, a speaker series, and dedicated faculty.
The classes include “The Hebrew Bible and the Human Condition,” “Jews and American Democracy,” and “The Roots of Modern Anti-Semitism.”
The study abroad in Israel program incorporates units on “The Land of the Hebrew Bible,” “Zionism and Modern Israel: A Political History,” and “The Dynamics of the Israeli Economy.”
The Rosenthal-Levy program is an “initiative of Tikvah offering full scholarships and merit-based stipends for exceptional undergraduate students interested in Jewish, Western and American civilization.”
Last week’s announcement follows a series of 2024 incidents when off-campus agitators, claiming to oppose alleged Israeli “genocide,” disrupted on campus operations. The disruptions included attempts to erect Columbia University-style tent encampments and demands for the university to divest from investments with Israeli ties.
The School of Civic Leadership, a classical education program that was dramatically expanded in 2025, announced last month that it will launched majors related to “strategy and statecraft” and “great books” in fall 2027. A grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities will fund sixteen faculty positions related to these majors.
UT-Austin is a component institution of the University of Texas System. It is overseen by a Board of Regents that is appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Texas Senate. Kevin Eltife of Tyler is the current board chairman.
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