Thomas to Teach Week of UT Austin Seminar
Justice Clarence Thomas will lead one week of a semester-long undergraduate course on equality and freedom in February.
Updated on Nov. 6, 2026 in Law
The School of Civic Leadership at the University of Texas at Austin announced on Friday that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas will teach one week of the seminar "Equality and the New Birth of Freedom" in February 2027. Justin Dyer, the school's dean, will teach the remainder of the course.
Why it matters
The seminar gives 17 UT undergraduates direct instruction from a sitting justice on a curriculum spanning Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. For Austin, it places a national legal figure in the classroom of the city's flagship university.
The announcement sets out a schedule in which Thomas teaches every day for two hours during his February week, while Dyer teaches the rest of the semester-long course for one credit hour. Seventeen UT undergraduates are enrolled, and the extraction does not say how the course will be assessed.
The players
Clarence Thomas
Thomas is the longest-serving current member of the U.S. Supreme Court, known for his originalist and textualist judicial approach.
School of Civic Leadership
The School of Civic Leadership is a unit of the University of Texas at Austin that offers programs in civic education and constitutional studies.
Justin Dyer
Dyer is the dean of the School of Civic Leadership at UT Austin and a political scientist who studies American political thought.
The details
Students who completed a previous Constitutional Principles course were invited to apply for the seminar. The syllabus draws on works from Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., and Thomas addressed a crowd at Hogg Memorial Auditorium in April.
Timeline
April: Thomas spoke at Hogg Memorial Auditorium on the UT campus.
Friday, November 6, 2026: The School of Civic Leadership announced the course.
February 2027: Thomas teaches his one-week segment of the seminar.
Big Picture
Sitting Supreme Court justices have occasionally taught university seminars, a practice that places constitutional debate directly in front of students. Thomas's week at UT Austin continues that pattern while focusing on the Reconstruction-era and civil rights writings that shape the constitutional equality debate.
The seminar is open only to the 17 enrolled UT undergraduates, so most Austin residents will not be able to attend Thomas's sessions in person. Students who want similar access to constitutional instruction can look for future UT course offerings in the School of Civic Leadership.
The takeaway
A Supreme Court justice standing in front of undergraduates for a week is a reminder that constitutional principles are taught as well as adjudicated. Readers interested in civic education can track how universities structure access to these courses over time.
What happens next
Thomas is scheduled to teach his one-week segment of the seminar in February 2027, when the course will move to his lectures.
Further reading
For more on how constitutional questions are argued in the courts, explore the Law section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Austin American-Statesman.
