Clarence Thomas to teach a seminar at the University of Texas at Austin

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is set to join the classroom next spring at the University of Texas at Austin. The conservative justice will lead a weeklong seminar focused on American history, race, equality, and freedom through the lens of influential Black political thinkers and civil rights leaders. According to CBS Austin, Thomas will teach 17 undergraduate students in a one-credit discussion course called “Equality and the New Birth of Freedom.” The seminar will be offered through UT Austin’s School of Civic Leadership, with Dean Justin Dyer handling most of the semester.

The students selected for the course come from a range of academic backgrounds, including government, economics, business, engineering, psychology, the Plan II honors program, and Civics Honors. Thomas is expected to be on campus from Feb. 1-5, 2027.

Dyer will lead the remaining class sessions, meet with students, and grade their work. The seminar will explore the nation’s founding, the Civil War, and modern debates over equality and freedom. Its reading list includes major Black historical figures and civil rights leaders such as Frederick Douglass, Booker T.

Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X. Students will also look at how issues of race and equality have shaped recent Supreme Court rulings, according to Our Austin.

The announcement comes after Thomas’ April 15 appearance at the university, where he gave a lecture at Hogg Memorial Auditorium marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. During that event, he spoke about the need to bring civics and Western civilization education back to the center of university curricula. “I hope that my talk today will help in some small way to inaugurate another great initiative,” Thomas said.

Thomas was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court by President George H.W. Bush and took his seat on Oct.

23, 1991. Before becoming a justice, he served as chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from 1982 to 1990 and held several other government and legal roles. RELATED CONTENT: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas Admits Failing To Report Free Trips From GOP Billionaire