100 Years of Courting, Dating & Hooking Up on College Campuses

Catalog description

This course will examine the romantic and sexual behaviors of college students over a century of time within the context of the university and its role as in loco parentis (in place of the parent) and will consider how, since the development of youth culture in the early 1900's, college students' interactions may -- or may not -- have changed and the pace at which America’s universities responded. The questions that will guide our semester include: What are the shared commonalities - and differences - between generations related to relationships and intimacy? Is there a relationship between technology/invention/culture and intimacy/sex for college students? How have world events such as public health (i.e. STIs, HIV/AIDS) and political issues (i.e. war) directly impacted college students' and their sexual/romantic behaviors? Do on-campus institutions (such as the Greek system) influence social and sexual interactions amongst college students? In its role as in loco parentis, has the university socially engineered the campus environment in relation to students’ social behaviors? Has the university, as an entity, reasonably demonstrated responsiveness to changes in students’ behaviors? Using the lenses of educator and public health practitioner we willexplore how universities responded to their students’ sexuality including adapting to co-education campuses, marriage preparation, sexuality education, Queer friendly campuses and informed consent.