Teaching Sexual Citizenship: An Initial Map for Integration of S/GBV Prevention into the Sociology Classroom

• In Event: From Surveillance to Solidarity: Teaching Amid the Immigration Crisis (Co-sponsored by Race, Gender, and Class Section)

Abstract

The majority of university responses to sexual and gender-based violence are concentrated on prevention, awareness, and resource-provision in the non-academic realms of the campus. Recent scholarship on the organizational and institutional factors that shape campus sexual assault experiences – including Hirsch and Khan’s (2020) Sexual Citizens – have argued for incorporating sexual health and violence prevention education directly into the academic classroom. This article discusses the first year of a pilot program to both implement and study the effects of incorporating sexual health and gender-based/sexual violence prevention directly into the sociology classroom. It introduces a preliminary sketch for teaching sexual citizenship to undergraduate university students as a first step to developing a comprehensive guide for the successful integration of sexual health education and gender/sexual violence prevention education in the undergraduate sociology classroom. This preliminary map focuses on four key arenas of emerging best practices: the rhythms, space, play, and emotional labor of the course. It also explores the significance of teaching on sexual and gender-based violence in this political moment.

Authors

• Samantha Leonard, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

• Katie Holstein Mercer, University of Colorado-Boulder

• Abigail Eiler, University of Michigan

• Lisa Fedina

• Sandra R. Levitsky, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

• Michelle Munro-Kramer

• Richard Tolman