A class featuring pornography at a private college in Salt Lake City has drawn scrutiny, however a spokesperson for the school says campus leaders stand behind it.<\/p>\n
“Westminster College occasionally offers elective courses like this as an opportunity to analyze social issues,\u201d a spokesperson for Westminster College told<\/a> Fox News.<\/p>\n The campus media affairs division did not respond to a request from The College Fix<\/em> seeking comment.<\/p>\n \u201cAs part of this analysis, Westminster College and universities across the county often examine potentially offensive topics like pornography to further understand their pervasiveness and impact,\u201d according to the university\u2019s statement. \u201cDescriptions of these courses, while alarming to some readers, help students decide if they wish to engage in serious investigation of controversial subjects.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis course will help students learn how to think critically about the influence of digital media culture.”<\/p>\n The two-credit class is called \u201cFilm 3000: Porn.\u201d According to its description<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u201cHard core pornography is as American as apple pie and more popular than Sunday night football. Our approach to this billion-dollar industry is as both a cultural phenomenon that reflects and reinforces sexual inequalities (but holds the potential to challenge sexual and gender norms) and as an art form that requires serious contemplation. We will watch pornographic films together and discuss the sexualization of race, class, and gender and as an experimental, radical art form.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n A screenshot of the course description was shared widely on Twitter last week, promoting a Change.org petition<\/a> to cancel the class, calling it obscene and arguing it does not have any educational value. As of Sunday evening, the petition had more than 1,500 signatures.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Supreme Court has defined obscenity as \u2018completely devoid of scientific, political, educational, or social value.\u2019 We agree. Pornography is devoid of educational value and has no place in the classroom,\u201d the petition states.<\/p>\n \u201cIn these classes, young students and teachers watch pornography together in a classroom. This creates an unsafe environment for students and faculty and normalizes pornography in culture. These are not Utah values and these classes have no part in the Utah education system.\u201d<\/p>\n But the course\u2019s instructor, Eileen Chanza Torres, told<\/a> ABC news that the notion that students will be sitting around watching porn together is inaccurate, that they won\u2019t \u201cwatch porn, giggle, and go home.\u201d<\/p>\n Chanza Torres did not respond to a phone call from The College Fix<\/em> seeking comment.<\/p>\n Chanza Torres told ABC news that porn is \u201ca fascinating study of people and gender performance.\u201d Torres referred to herself as \u201csex positive and body-positive.\u201d<\/p>\n The college is also offering<\/a> a course called \u201cSex on Film.\u201d The four-credit course studies \u201cthe evolution of sex in mainstream films through a selection of U.S. films from the late 1920s to our present time.\u201d<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t the first time that Westminster College has had sexual content endorsed. In 2018, there was a \u201ccondom fashion show\u201d to raise awareness for \u201creproductive rights.\u201d<\/p>\n The vice president of Westminster\u2019s student government held a presentation that discussed sexual pleasure and claimed that \u201cNipples are for everyone,\u201d \u201cButtholes might be magic,” and \u201cThe clitoris is key,” Campus Reform<\/em> reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n