‘It’s Not Just Locker Room Talk’ course educates on the causes and effects of sexual assault

Anna Radinsky/ Contributing writer

As Hollywood’s list of those accused of sexual harassment grows, the University has added a new course to discuss the effects of sexual assault.  

“It’s Not Just Locker Room Talk: Understanding and Preventing Campus Sexual Assault” is a new course offered this spring semester at the Modesto Maidique campus that deals with understanding and learning about rape culture and sexual violence within college environments.

Victoria Burns, assistant professor, member of the Title IX Committee and faculty advisor for FIU’s Women, Sexuality, and Gender Studies Student Association, and the creator of the course will be teaching it this semester.

Burns decided to teach the course after noticing themes in patients that were seeking psychotherapy for mental health services.

“I continued to hear descriptions of sexual encounters with partners or acquaintances that actually met the criteria for sexual assault,” Burns said. “Yet the clients I was seeing did not always realize they were assaulted.”

About 80 to 90 percent of sexual assault reported by college women were by someone known to the survivor, according to the National Institute of Justice.

Infographic by Anna Radinksy/PantherNOW.

She was inspired to teach the course, she said, when she realized that there is a large gap in knowledge about consent and sexual assault or rape in young people.

The first half of the course will deal with what contributes and maintains the culture on rape and sexual assault by evaluating the behavior, attitude and norms of society.

How sexual assault is tied to racism, sexism and homophobia will also be discussed, along with evaluating risk factors within campuses.

Because the majority of people who are sexually assaulted are women as well as those who fall within the LGBTQ spectrum, the majority of the course will focus on such populations.

However, male college students are more likely to be raped than other men their age who are not college students, according to Burns, so male experiences with assault will also be highlighted in the course.

The course will also include evaluating current events on Hollywood, the political world and Greek scandals.

“One advantage of teaching a class with such current-day relevance is to be able to pull from what is going on in the news right now to help students make sense of what they are learning in class,” Burns said. “Students are constantly consuming media and news – why not meet them where they are at?”

The second half of the course will cover preventative measures against sexual abuse used on campuses. The class will be assigned a project to create their own preventative program.

FIU’s “It’s On Us” campaign will also participate in the course by bringing presenters into the class to encourage students to become peer educators. The University’s Women’s Center will also be involved in the course.

With a class size for 50 students, Burns is eager to bring more awareness and education on the topic of sexual assault on campus.

Burns hopes that the course will teach students to be more proactive on recognizing and preventing sexual abuse, along with strengthening their confidence that they are able to make a difference.

“I hope students leave the course realizing how powerful they really are and that just one person is enough to make a change,” said Burns.

For students interested in taking the course, there are no prerequisites and the course number is cross-listed as WST 4930 or PSY 4930.

 

Featured Image retrieved from Flickr.

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