Students say they will push for art history at the University of Otago to be kept, after the university senate voted by a ``clear majority'' to disestablish the programme in 2020.
The decision, made after a student demonstration yesterday, has to be ratified by the university council next month.
Since it was announced last month the proposal has been controversial for a perceived lack of consultation.
Otago University Students' Association tried to sway senators. Education officer James Heath and president Caitlin Barlow-Groome attended the meeting.
They put forward a petition to save art history signed by thousands of students, and an alternative proposal to retain the programme as a minor.
Student magazine Critic Te Arohi reported vice-chancellor Professor Harlene Hayne cast the deciding vote rejecting the students' proposal.
A university spokesman said the minor suggestion was ``narrowly voted down'' and the original proposal to cut the programme passed with a ``clear majority''.
OUSA said last night Ms Barlow-Groome intended to take a case to the university council to retain the programme, which had more than 80 full-time equivalent students in 2014 but fewer than 19 this year.
Before the meeting, about 40 people marched from the union lawn at the university to the clocktower to support the art history programme.
Renn Darcy, a third-year art-history student, said the university had refused to replace staff who left and had narrowed the art history papers available, then tried to blame students' lack of interest for declining numbers.
Pro-vice chancellor for humanities Prof Tony Ballantyne said he understood the ``passion and commitment'' articulated by students and the community.
``However the proposed changes respond to a sustained shift in the pattern of student interest,'' he said.