Back to the Future

Good morning, George Washington University. Just in case you hadn’t noticed, the year is 2005, not 1955.

Dr. Emmett Brown, at 9:10 am EDT on September 13, 2005

Viva Schaffer!

Down with GWU.

Suzanne, at 10:22 am EDT on September 13, 2005

Is GWU a high school?

The real question is why a university still gives credit for a Human Sexuality course. This sounds like high-school Hygiene 101. It’s apparently useful and valuable, but doesn’t GWU expect its students to have learned this in high school or at the health center? What does the fact that GWU gives credit for this course say about the rest of their classes?

P, at 11:32 am EDT on September 13, 2005

Do we really need a class on shaving our naughties when we are producing supposedly educated students with no grasp of, say, evolutionary theory or Hamlet or modern languages or european history? They shouldn’t have fired an apparently devoted instructor; they should have eliminated the class and given him a more appropriate assignment for an institution of learning.

Cicero, Dr., at 11:48 am EDT on September 13, 2005

What makes pubic so private?

I’m astounding that students at any liberal arts college who enroll in a Human Sexuality class would be offended by a discussion of pubic hair.

First of all, pubic is universal. Similar to Jerry Seinfeld’s take on nipples, with pubic hair, we all got it.

A discussion of trimming strikes me as a discussion on communication within a relationship. Taking the time to think of and ask for your partner’s like’s and dislike’s can’t be all that offensive.

From what I read in the piece, the role of Professor Shaeffer in the GW community won’t be easily filled. I’m tending to side with the eariler poster that there must be some other political side to the decsion to not invite him back. Otherwise, his history of good evals should out weight a couple from a singular semester.

Vince, at 12:19 pm EDT on September 13, 2005

I am stunned that we are still fighting this battle so many years after Kinsey blazed this trail. Thank goodness for the courage of the late Dr. Herman Wells in standing up for the intellectual integrity of a thorough and open discussion of our sexuality. With the world wide plague of sexually transmitted diseases continuing unabated, I think our youth deserve to know the facts. Shame on GWU for caving in to minor concerns about the propriety of such education for our students.

Alan, at 12:46 pm EDT on September 13, 2005

Lick the conservatives

Yet another casuality of the conservative/moral “revolution” in academia: let’s stop talking about “dirties” and healthy human sexuality in general, because all sex is meant to be missionary and procreative. Just as evolution is irrelevant to God’s creation, so “look before you lick” is irrelevant to the new moral order that is finding its way into our homes and classrooms.

The idea that students have learned anything at all about sexuality in high school (where conservatism and repression is the rule), or that sexuality isn’t an appropriate topic for serious intellectual study and discussion is patently absurd. These same academic prudes don’t see the value of multi-cultural literature, comparative religious studies, class, race, and gender studies, or evolutionary science. They’re throwbacks to a 1950s-era cultural myopia that sees only a very narrow range of intellectual and moral choices available to us, and likes it that way.

Any college student who willingly takes a human sexuality course ought to come to class prepared to discuss any and every aspect of of the topic, including safe sex, hygiene, intimacy, abuse, and lots of other difficult, embarassing, or even painful subjects. If you aren’t, then drop the course—although it would seem that these are precisely the kids who need it the most! Sexual discussion, graphic sexuality, or even sexual jokes, are not “sexual harassment"—chasing away a serious, dedicated, and effective teacher...that’s harassment. Just remember that the rest of you who challenge your students’ narrow assumptions and childish sensibilities may be next...

huntly, at 1:01 pm EDT on September 13, 2005

Sex Ed

As a student of Human Sexuality and an aspiring educator, let me say, THIS SUCKS! This is why I put off finishing my degree for so long, because of the scant job opportunities for honest, open Sex Ed professors. Kudos for the previous students for defending this prof. As a female, I do understand the apprehension experienced in listening to men talk about sex (since sexual harassment is still very alive and kicking, especially on college campuses) but from this article, it seems like the administration is probably working their own angle on this one. Also, shouldn’t they actually be standing behind their colleague of 17 years and trying to preserve openness and honesty in education?

Laura, Geez, at 1:56 pm EDT on September 13, 2005

Money Talks

Personally, I would be willing to put money on the fact that they’ve been looking for a reason to get rid of this guy. If he’d been around that long and was the highest paid it kind of comes to reason that they’d want to toss him for the sake of saving a little overhead.

If it hadn’t been the two idiots who couldn’t take a frank discussion without getting offended it would have been something else.

Universities have been operating as businesses for years. My former university was morse than most. Anything htey could tack an extra fee onto got double dipped. We had to pay $50 for a parking decal... And then we had to shell out another $100 in order to park on campus more than once a week. Talk about a joke. Residential students had to cough up $300 extra to cover the cost of weekend parking.

It’s really kind of sad that everyone in this country is only thinking about the bottom line.

FlufrNutr, at 1:57 pm EDT on September 13, 2005

Y’know...

The complaint wasn’t that the issue of shaving was “offensive", but rather that it was “degrading to women". The complainers could just as easily have been the types who consider shaved vulvas insulting to their radiant mother-goddess nature. The ultraconservatives and ultraliberals are both pretty far from reasonable.

Michael, at 1:58 pm EDT on September 13, 2005

George Washington University made a mistake, it seems, in firing this professor. They have offered up no explanation, except for 2 bad performance reviews in what, 17 YEARS. How many tenured professors had innumerous bad reviews in the process of tenure? Almost every teacher gets bad reviews, college kids often think the process of evalution is funny, and they write horrible things on the sheets. Evaluations should only be used as a a secondary piece of information in a punishment process, actual complaints should be the minimum evidence necessary for futher administrative actions.

As academics, we either need to pander to the majority, or to the belief that there is some ‘truth’ in the world, regadless of common opinion. If school were a majority or a jury, the man would be not guilty. If school actually strove to find truth, even against the majority (yeah, believe that), I doubt two girls being squeemish about a professor discussing oral sex — shockingly — a fact of life, would have been protected by the high ground of objective truth. It seems like the administration wanted him gone, or some adminstrator got scared and went too far too fast in firing what seems to have been a great teacher.

brett, Indiana University, at 3:00 pm EDT on September 13, 2005

Those of you complaining that this professor’s course was “unnecessary” perhaps need to step back and recall that easily half of what is taught at colleges these days tends to be extraneous at best. Take physical education as one of the worst offenders. Most universities require students to take and pass a certain number of physical education credits... but how many of you, in your careers, actually have to employ your university-earned training in badminton or squat thrusts?

Andy S., at 3:57 pm EDT on September 13, 2005

I have a question for those questioning the point of having a class on sexuality in college.

Where else are you going to learn this?

High school is out in most places — even our president is advocating ‘absenence only’. Where are you supposed to find educated classes and free discourse about topics such as contraceptives, self-examines, etc. Sexual topics (from contraceptives, masterbation, STD’s, and cultural views on the like) will remain contraverial and taboo until it can be discussed and studied rationally, not just hearsay over a beer or ignored as something that “good, straight, monogamously married people” don’t have to worry about.

And about PE being pointless — physical fitness is part of keeping your body and mind healthy. If it wasn’t required many people wouldn’t even know where to start when it comes to exercising. That requirement helps people become less intimidated by gym equipment, taking care of their own health.

When you know what’s going on with your body, whether it’s a strain from moving improperly or symptoms of breast cancer you feel more control and know what actions to take to help yourself.

Amanda, Content, at 4:32 pm EDT on September 13, 2005

This class is far from unnecessary

Those of you complaining that this class is superfluous or unnecessary are delusional. It’s unnerving how few fully grown, college-educated adults are truly knowledgable and comfortable with sexuality. A class like this, while it certainly shouldn’t be mandatory, has probably been invaluable to many people in learning how to properly cope with adult life. Additionally, to the poster who complained that it’s not career oriented and then mentioned medical students, this class should probably be mandatory for anyone considering entering the medical profession, where you’ll be forced to deal frankly, compassionately, and bluntly about sexual issues. It sounds like the champions of ignorance have won another battle here.

Paul, Grad Student at New School for Social Research, at 5:06 pm EDT on September 13, 2005

Grow up

I’m sick of hearing undergraduates and others talk about how much money they (or rather, their parents) spend on their education, and what they think they deserve in return for their tuition—classes _they_ think are important, classes that are easy, classes that keep them entertained, professors who agree with their unexamined opinions, good grades, etc. All your tuition pays for is the right to be here, to learn from qualified faculty, and to take advantage of the resources available to you, so that YOU can go out and earn a good job. It’s not the professor’s duty to give you job skills—it’s your job to acquire them. This isn’t vocational training—your professional programs or future employers can provide you with that—this is comprehensive education.

Sexuality is a part of that. These courses aren’t “sex ed” with cucumbers and condoms—these are serious scientific, social, and cultural studies of human sexuality and all of its impications. If you don’t know that, then you need to be in the class. Knowing it should be a requirement of adulthood, teaching it is the school’s responsibility, and taking the class indicates your willingness to sit there and learn without a childish smirk on your face and a giggle at every mention of the private parts. Grow up, children, and learn what you need to be an educated adult—not just what you need to earn cash for your uninformed “lifestyle.”

huntly, at 6:37 pm EDT on September 13, 2005

first of all, there is nothing wrong with a liberal arts college having a sex ed class. there are plenty of classes everywhere that some would consider superfluous. different opinions are what makes education valuable. if you cant spend a few credit hours in one semester talking/learning about something that is essentially an inter-personal relationship topic that most people will encounter over the course of one’s life, so be it. it doesnt mean that those who do are less valuable.

more importantly, we need to consider the harm that the post feminism PC age is doing here. does it surprise ANYONE that the problem was with a female student with hypersensitivity? most of the tenets pounded into our heads by what is now an overwhelmingly feminist society are simply egocentric nonsense. nothing is safe anymore unless it’s safe for everyone, regardless of the level of ignorance or whatever. stupid.

offended by sex? go to the convent. otherwise, join normal life like the rest of us. sex is normal.

daniel, at 6:37 pm EDT on September 13, 2005

What gives you the right?

Think Human Sexuality should not be taught? This about this. Universities are businesses. They offer a service for money. If you don’t provide the service your customers want you will soon be out of business.

If students demand more science courses the University would logically provide them. By the same account Human Sexuality is a popular course—so the University provides it. This is not a requirement but an elective. Everybody in the class chose to take it. What gives anybody the right to dictate what classes should be taught when students have already voted with their tuition dollars?

EtherGnat, at 7:22 pm EDT on September 13, 2005

Education

This comment is for Kevin. Your statement about the classes relevance to a career and parents paying for college is a pretty poor argument. I pay my own tuition and I came to college to receive an education. Sometimes that education doesn’t have to have anything to do with my career. You may need to take a look in the mirror and make sure your career doesn’t define the person you are. There are a lot of different aspects to life, and the education you receive is to lend experience in all of them.

TJ, Undergrad, at 5:55 pm EDT on September 14, 2005

Perhaps many of you need to take a moment to examine the apparently unquestioned assumption that it is somehow a very “grown up” thing to do to publicly discuss sex. I propose the counter-thesis that to gather 150 students to discuss pubic shaving is, in fact, incredibly infantile. So called “sexual liberation” has really just resulted in a cruder, dumber culture.

Yes, sex is normal and healthy. Yes, human sexuality is an important, appropriate, and demanding area of academic inquiry. It should be delicately handled, however, within the appropriate advance courses of the appropriate disciplines (psychology, biology, sociology, anthropology, etc.). This case just proves the need for delicacy and discretion. When one puts a bunch of sophomores in a room to discuss sex, the discussion will be sophomoric and intellectually unprofitable.

I absolutely agree that “career preparation” in only a very secondary goal of higher education. The first goal is to produce a more fully human subject. I don’t see how this sort of class contributes to that.

Polonius, at 1:34 pm EDT on September 16, 2005

Hope on the Horizon

Again, I am disgusted with the movement of higher education in this country towards restricted learning. Here we are in the year 2005 and pubic hair has become a taboo subject because a few are offended. The government of this country and a large majority of it’s people continue to claim we are better educated and far more advanced than other countries in the world. Why then are we not allowed to learn freely?

I have had the pleasure of receiving my post-grad education outside of the United States and for those of you looking for the opportunity to learn freely there are countries with governments who recognize the true problems in the world such as the growing problems with STDs, specifically, the AIDs epidemic. However, if you are able to find a university in this country with someone like Michael Schaffer, treasure every minute because at the rate we are moving we’ll all be reading the same text books, with the same edited history, biased viewpoints, and close-minded babble.

Erin, Sex Ed, at 1:05 pm EDT on September 19, 2005

Down with Guntly

If my parents want to pay my tuition so I can learn about pubic hair so be it. Who the hell are you to say that college students don’t have the right to learn about sex. It wasn’t all fun and games in that class. I worked hard on those tests, and on those papers. And my opinions were FAR from unexamined. I was told I was wrong many times and I entered that class with many misconceptions. There were a slew of homophobic people in my class, people who did not practice safe sex, and people who blatantly did not know what to do with their own bodies. And if there is one amazing Professor who can guide us in the right direction and teach us something about relationships, love, trust, safety and HONESTY then goddamnit he has the right and the duty to do so!

And p.s. it is my personal belief that anyone and everyone against Professor Schaffer has some serious problems with their own sex life. Maybe you could use the class and lighten up.

Vera, Guntly, you’re a moron at GWU, at 4:37 am EDT on October 11, 2005

I have no knowledge of the course, other than the information in articles about its cancellation. But, from what was written about it, the one question I have is, “What is college course material about the topics covered in the course?” It sounds more like a locker room conversation than an academic topic. “Look before you lick” hardly qualifies as material worth spending tuition dollars to receive.

Mike, at 11:50 am EST on December 31, 2005