The University of Michigan is offering students a class in

[Jenn! 918]

no think more into halfway there

She must not have seen the swinger thread, lol.

[Kazan' Tiger 1]

I understand it is a pass or fail class only!

[Amby 490]

I would take the class just to see what it's all about but since I'm nowhere near the University of Michigan I think I will have to sit this one out. Maybe if IU has a class like this I will take it for funsies

no think more into halfway there

She must not have seen the swinger thread, lol.

guess not

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Well in all honesty silly college courses are nothing new - that's pretty much what happens when you have a free market education system. There's a niche for everything Its only a unit anyway - not an entire BA course. Nothing to get steamed about IMO.

Still - there's some interesting contextual info on some links off that first page.

Statement on the course English 317 "Literature and Culture" Section II: "How to be Gay: Male Homosexuality and Initiation." being offered Fall Term 2003

"This course is one of a number of courses under the general study of literature and culture offered by the English Department. As examples, other sections of English 317 cover "Literature and the American Wilderness" and "Literature and the Apocalypse." In these and in other courses, including "The Beat Generation," "Self and Society in Early English Literature," and "The Victorian Novel," just as in English 317, texts are studied in relation to how individuals develop perceptions, attitudes, and beliefs about some aspect of their world.

"This course is not about encouraging people to become gay, but about how individuals in our society create meaning and beliefs about gay culture from literature and the arts. The professor intends to feature several cultural areas that are used to examine gay culture, including texts, art, music, opera, and theater.

"The course also makes no assumptions about the sexual orientation of its students. Interest in this type of course often is based on the fact that a student plans to enter a field (e.g., Medicine, Teaching, Law, Social Work, etc.) where he or she will encounter a large and very diverse clientele. For example, and for similar reasons, a large number of our students who are not deaf elect to enroll in courses on American Sign Language.

"We are aware that much of the concern is with the title of the course and acknowledge that the interpretation of that title is very troubling for some people. The English Department, under normal procedures whereby subject matter, course content and texts are presented for review, approved this course. Several other universities in our state have similar courses, albeit without this exact title.

"The diversity of views and the background and interests of thousands of students who pass through our doors creates the backdrop against which this course and many others are offered to respond to a genuine search for intellectually interesting and sometimes provocative subject matters. The historic freedom granted to pursue this search is one of the hallmarks of higher education."

Robert M. Owen

Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education and

Professor of Marine Geochemistry

College of Literature, Science and the Arts

Statement from Paul Courant, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, University of Michigan

"The State of Michigan is fortunate to have some of the finest public institutions of higher education in the world. We have evolved to this point in no small measure because, throughout our state's history, academic decisions at our flagship institutions have been made by faculty and academic leaders. Each of our institutions has its strengths. However, we all have one strength in common: the bedrock foundation of the free and open exchange of ideas.

"At the University of Michigan, we offer nearly 2,000 undergraduate courses which explore the vastness of external and internal universes, both physical and cultural. One such course has been the focus of criticism, much of which, we believe, is based on mischaracterization of its purpose and content. Professor David Halperin’s course, just like every other course at the University, was proposed by the faculty member to his department chair, originally in 1999. The course was then reviewed according to normal procedure at the departmental level before first being offered to students in Fall Term 2000 as a legitimate area for academic study. Its content is similar to literature courses taught at many other universities in our state and across the country.

"At the heart of the greatness of American public universities is our ability to offer an environment of academic inquiry in which the widest possible range of ideas can be explored."

There's also a fairly lengthy essay from David Halperin here.

[Fandango 1,440]

Jack McFarland teaches the course......