Sometimes, sex goes beyond the bedroom and into the classroom.
Although many students undoubtedly learn by doing, this university offers a variety of classes about the birds and the bees, on topics that address the scientific, factual aspects of sex and discuss the role of sexuality and identity.
One such class is HLTH 377: Human Sexuality, a survey course taught by Robin Sawyer, public and community health department associate chairman, covering everything from factual subjects — such as reproductive anatomy, sexual response, pregnancy, childbirth and contraception — to more abstract concepts of sexual communication, relationships and love.
Each semester, the class quickly fills its seats, of which there are 200 this semester, and it typically has 100 to 130 students on its waitlist.
“You can teach sexuality in a very academic, dry way,” Sawyer said. “I don’t think that’s really what my students want, so I try to teach it in a way that’s relevant to their lives.”
Sawyer’s teaching style is a large part of what makes his class so appealing to students. Senior community health major Courtney Carpenter described Sawyer as being “very engaging” and said he “loved to get the class involved with his lectures.”
The class is also known for its raw and honest discussion of typically “off-limits” topics such as porn and pleasure. During one class, Sawyer splits the class up by gender and allows each to ask the other any questions it wants about sex; he said the activity is his favorite part of teaching the course.
“Staggering,” Sawyer said. “Absolutely staggering: ‘A,’ what they want to know, and ‘B,’ the responses they get. So that, I love that part.”
In teaching the class, Sawyer strives to educate students about activities many of them are already engaging in. While many college students are sexually active, their sexual knowledge does not always measure up to their behavior.
“I think sexuality education in middle school and high school is almost nonexistent,” Sawyer said. “What there is is fairly narrow and prescribed by committees that say, ‘You can say this but can’t say that.’”
Students said they don’t always have a sufficient sex education and that this class allows them to learn and discuss without judgment.
Carpenter, who took the course online, and whose experience with the class led her to become a peer educator through the University Health Center, said, “You would be surprised how many students do not know about sexual health and how many stigmas and false ideas they have. A lot of people are told one thing, and that’s what they believe.”
Charli Brooks, a senior sociology major, said the class opens up a helpful dialogue about sex.
“Even though people claim they know it all, there are always questions that everyone is afraid to ask,” Brooks said, “and I think the class gave everyone the opportunity to not be ashamed of their sexuality and learn together.”
Another class on the campus about sex is HLTH 471: Women’s Health, taught by Sylvette La Touche-Howard. The class primarily comprises women, but some male students also enroll.
The course considers the mental, physical and sexual factors of female health and discusses, among other things, the different roles of sex, health policy, reproductive health, pregnancy, childbirth and menopause.
“What we learn from the media oftentimes isn’t really true about who we are as females,” La Touche-Howard said, “so understanding who we are, rather than just letting society teach us who we are, oftentimes I believe empowers us women.”
La Touche-Howard also said she believes the biggest sexual problem facing college students today is still a lack of knowledge, even as so much information and so many resources are made readily available.
“With stigmas that society has, I think it’s that empowerment issue,” she said.
Amanda Strausser, a graduate student pursuing a behavioral and community health master’s degree and a teaching assistant for La Touche-Howard’s class, believes that this empowerment is especially important now, as health care and women’s rights dominate political issues.
The LGBT studies program also offers a variety of courses focusing on “non-normative genders and sexualities,” assistant director JV Sapinoso said.
“We’re really trying to talk more generally about sexuality so that we have a place on campus where we can discuss in academic setting that it’s not just ‘straight people’ or even just ‘straight’ and ‘gay’ people,” Sapinoso said.
Sapinoso teaches LGBT 200: Introduction to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies. Two students in the class, sophomore psychology major Supriya Karray and junior psychology major Afshan Mizrahi, said they enjoyed learning about the different measurements that are applied to sexuality.
Other classes offered by the LGBT program include LGBT 350: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People and Communication; LGBT 448Q: Queer Citizenship: Perspectives on Bodies, Sexualities, and Performances; and LGBT 298R: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Art and Culture.
Sapinoso said there is still “a shroud over sexuality in general” and hopes these courses “give a certain level of visibility and awareness to certain topics and issues.”
“I think these classes are also really powerful because they give a forum where it’s not taboo to talk about these things — in fact, that’s what we’re assigned to do,” Sapinoso said.
The LGBT program also cross-lists many classes, such as LGBT 465: Theories of Sexuality and Literature, with other departments. This course discusses “the relationship between sexual activity, sexual identity and society as a whole, specifically through the lens of literature,” said Conner Morrison, a junior theatre major.
“I adore the class,” Morrison said. “It’s very active discussion, and a lot of it is very contemporary.”
In the past, the university has offered a course on the psychology of human sex. Also, FMSC 260: Couples Relationships, a family science course, is not very sexual in nature, but does address some sexual topics, as well as theoretical constructs of love and the topics of marriage, divorce and couple communication.
While these classes may differ in structure and curriculum, ultimately they all teach students about sex, “one of the foundational things of human society,” as La Touche-Howard said.
“I think with college students, this might be the first time that some students have really had control over their bodies and making decisions, where maybe before other people had been doing it for them,” Strausser said. “So becoming educated on what your options are and what’s really going on with you, and then making appropriate decisions for you — I think that’s why it’s important to have sex ed.”
