How come I never got to take classes like this..... Berkeley sexuality class under fire By TERRI HARDY Sacramento Bee February 17, 2002 SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The University of California at Berkeley has suspended a male sexuality class after the campus newspaper published allegations that students watched their instructor have sex at a strip club and participated in an orgy at an extracurricular party. The suspension was announced after student instructors of the male sexuality class failed to attend a meeting with a university official Friday, said Marie Felde, a spokeswoman for Berkeley. An investigation into the course has been launched. "Those sorts of activities are not part of the approved course curriculum," Felde said. "We need to find out what the situation is. All we have now is a report in a student newspaper." A female sexuality course is also under review, Felde said. Instructors named in Friday's story by the Daily Californian could not be reached for comment. The courses were offered under the university's "democratic education" or "de-cal" program, which are sponsored but not funded by the university. They are organized and run by student instructors and can be taken for credit toward graduation. Other such courses are Blackjack, where students are taught how to count cards, and Copwatch, which advises students "how to safely and effectively assert their rights when interacting with police." Christy Kovacs, a Berkeley freshman who was enrolled in the male sexuality course last semester for two units, said in an interview that some students in the class were involved in an orgy at a party. The party was held to introduce students from other sections of the course and was not mandatory, Kovacs said. Some partygoers also took Polaroid pictures of their genitalia, to show that their bodies were not disgusting, Kovacs said. The shots were viewed at the party in a "respectful way," she said. "It was just a fun, harmless get-together," Kovacs said. "Anything weird that did go on was kind of behind closed doors, and no one really knew about it." Another student, Jessica McMahon, told the Daily Californian that a group of students in the male sexuality class chose as their final project a trip to a gay strip club. Students watched instructors strip and have sex, the newspaper reported. Kovacs said her class also took an optional trip to the Garden of Eden strip club. There, a member of the group who was not a student or instructor stripped on stage, she said. "They didn't even take off all their clothes, and there was no sex," Kovacs said. "It was a class bonding experience." Kovacs said the class was a positive experience and should not be portrayed in a "scandalous, negative light." De-cal courses must have a written course proposal, department chair approval and sponsorship by a faculty member, said Janet Gilmore, a Berkeley spokeswoman. The campus' Web site said the faculty chair sponsor is ultimately responsible for content and grades. Caren Kaplan, chairwoman of the Woman's Studies Department and sponsor of the sexuality classes, had reviewed the course description for the male sexuality course but was not provided with a detailed course syllabus, said David Dowall, chairman of Berkeley's Academic Senate, which represents faculty members. Kaplan could not be reached for comment. In an interview with the Daily Californian, Kaplan said she offers advice to student instructors but "doesn't police the content" of the courses. The female sexuality course curriculum is posted on the campus Web site and includes p*rn star Nina Hartley as a guest speaker and a "possible trip to a strip club." Other topics in the female sexuality course are women's health issues, violence against women and body image.
Sex education, Berkeley style By Monty Markland (Daily Texan Staff) February 19, 2002 Vibrators, sex shops, gothic gay p*rn and trips to sex clubs for class orgies; all of these activities will get you college credit at the University of California at Berkeley. The University of Texas offers extension courses, UC Berkeley offers ... Stunning revelations regarding the human sexuality courses offered at UC Berkeley, under their unique de-Cal program, once again cast doubt on the value of such nonacademic curriculum. The de-Cal program, short for Democratic Education at Cal, now faces an unsure future after its was revealed that the human sexuality courses offered each semester under the auspices of the Women's Studies department have descended into debauchery. The two courses, titled Female Sexuality and Male Sexuality, count two units - the equivalent of two credit hours - towards a Berkeley student's degree. In the Female Sexuality course, mandatory assignments include a body image collage and the fantasy project, a project in which students describe a sexual fantasy. While moral absence seems to be encouraged, physical absence will be punished. According to the course syllabus, more than three unexcused absences will result in a failing grade. The textbook for the course is ****, by Inga Muscio. The Web site instructs that the textbook may be found at Good Vibrations, a local sex shop. Assignments listed on the course syllabus include: "Color anatomical picture from the **** Coloring Book," and "Find your G-Spot or someone else's! - Write one page about your experience." Movies viewed during the course include Carol Queen's Guide to Vibrators and Killing Us Softly III. The course is in such demand that instructors have established an essay application process to determine admittance. According to the Campus Report Online, guest speakers included Nina Hartley, a "prominent" p*rn-star, and representatives of the aforementioned sex shop, Good Vibrations. Students in the Male Sexuality section of the course viewed a variety of p*rn clips - ranging from soft p*rn to gay p*rn- and discussed self-castration as a legitimate lifestyle choice. According to reports in The Daily Californian, the climax of the male sexuality course appears to have occured when the class took a field trip to a strip club where instructors performed sex acts onstage while students watched. Both courses have cast a shadow over the student-directed coursework offered under the de-Cal program. According to the de-Cal Web site, "The de-Cal program facilitates student-initiated courses in cooperation with UC Berkeley faculty to broaden the education, and the university experience, of all Cal students." Regulations require that the content of the de-Cal courses be approved by both the professor and the chair of the appropriate department - or inappropriate department, as the case may be. A sampling of de-Cal courses: "Deejaying - Uncovered at Last," "The Joy of Garbage," and "The Erotic as Power," a course "dedicated to exploring erotica within the context of modern culture." Ironically, a course entitled "American Public Universities - Is the Goal of Learning Being Met?" is also offered through de-Cal. It appears, sadly, that the answer to that well-posed question is a resounding, hardcore no. There have been no reports of salacious activity coming out of UT human sexuality course offerings. UT students have two options each semester when it comes to learning about human sexuality. Educational Psycology 363, Human Sexuality, is taught by Larry Brownstein, an education lecturer, and Nancy Daley, an adjunct assistant professor; five of the six sections were full at the beginning of this semester. The University also offers Kinesiology 366, Human Sexuality, taught by Karol Kaye Harris, an education lecturer; all three of this courses' sections were at capacity as well. These UT courses, unlike their Berkeley counterparts, focus mainly on the physiology and psychology of sex, including discussion on safe-sex practices and sexually transmitted diseases. The elevated level of content in the UT courses does not, however, exempt them from public scrutiny. Our own administrators should take a serious look at whether these classes are appropriate for an environment of higher education. The question to be considered is not whether the content is appropriate for consenting adults. The question is whether or not the content has any academic, rather than social, value. While learning about safe sex, the dangers of sexually transmitted disease, and the psychology of sex may serve a purpose, it does not serve an academic one. If UT officials fail to closely examine the academic rigor of UT sexuality courses, then our University is in danger of tumbling over the cliff of intellectual bankruptcy, a precipice from which UC Berkeley has already plunged. We can easily judge and dismiss the Animal House antics of the Berkeley sex-squad as non-academic. It is more difficult, however, to draw the thin line of discretion between Berkeley debauche and real coursework. If we fail, as an academic community, to make a clear distinction between bathroom-stall biology and higher education, then as an academic community, we will fail. Let's grow up and let the University attend to its mandated mission of education by shunning juvenille psuedo-academic antics in favour of traditional learning and study. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Further information on the female sexuality course can be found on the Web at: http://www.femsex.org. Questions regarding the male sexuality course may be directed to the class coordinator who can be reached at: manlyman@malemail.net.
