By Priyanka Aribindi, Inside Vandy
The required reading for WGS 150: Sex and Gender in Everyday Life covers such topics as sexual identity and gender identity from both narrative and theoretical lenses.
Vanderbilt isn’t shy about taking bedroom topics to the classroom. In the past few years, the number of classes at Vanderbilt with sex-related themes has grown immensely. Such offerings include Sex and Gender in Everyday Life, Sex and Scandals in Literature and Shakespearian Sexualities and Human Sexuality. Leslie Smith, senior lecturer in psychology, and Gay Welch, assistant professor of religious studies, weigh in on what it’s like to get down and dirty with two of Vanderbilt’s sexiest classes.
PSY 252: Human Sexuality
Taught by Leslie Smith
When senior lecturer Leslie Smith came to Vanderbilt to help start the Neuroscience major, she had no idea that she would end up teaching Human Sexuality — let alone that it would become one of Vanderbilt’s most popular courses.
“It was an accident, really,” she said, but a happy one at that. Now, 20 years after the course was first introduced, Human Sexuality has become one of the most coveted classes at Vanderbilt, filling the 296 seats in Wilson Hall 103 and always producing a lengthy waitlist.
“I think of the class as a forum for students to hear about things without shame and guilt and get reliable information,” Smith said. “I want them to understand themselves — sexuality is a big part of who they are. They have questions about sex and their sexuality, and the class is where they can get their questions answered and clarify their sexual attitudes and values.”
Throughout Vanderbilt, the course has become widely discussed amongst students because of its material and the manner in which Smith chooses to cover it. One of the most talked-about assignments is the sexual fantasy paper in which students are asked to write out their sexual fantasies, and Smith reads a select few aloud for the class. “They learn through laughing,” Smith said. “Usually the course is very lighthearted.”
In her time teaching, Smith has seen sizable shifts in the attitudes of undergraduates toward her coursework and sex in general.
“Students are much more open about their sexuality and are more respectful of differences that are there because of their beliefs,” she said.
The changes have not all been positive, though. Smith notes the growth of a hookup culture and the subsequent rise of sexually transmitted diseases as well.
“STDs are rampant,” she said. “(Students) need to know what’s out there and how they can protect themselves — diseases are real and have lifelong consequences.”
According to in-class feedback from clicker questions, Smith said her students are taking the things they learn to heart. “They’re thinking about the choices they’re making, and they protect themselves,” she said.
Read the full article by Priyanka Aribindi from Inside Vandy.