‘Watch Pornographic Films Together’: Utah College Course Studying Porn Goes Viral, Sparks Backlash

Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah, is still planning to offer a course studying hardcore pornography following an outpouring of backlash online, a representative from the private college said Thursday.

The May summer term class, “Gender 3000 – Porn,” has the description:

Hard 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 as an experimental, radical art form

The Daily Wire’s Candace Owens tweeted her response to the course description going viral, and she wasn’t the only one. Owens wrote, “I thought this was a joke—it isn’t. This is a pornography class that you can enroll in at Westminster College in Salt Lake City. The class description reads that porn is as American as apple pie and students will watch pornographic films together and discuss sex as an art form.”

I thought this was a joke—it isn’t. This is a pornography class that you can enroll in at Westminster College in Salt Lake City. The class description reads that porn is as American as apple pie and students will watch pornographic films together and discuss sex as an art form. pic.twitter.com/ZxcWP8J2jB

— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) April 20, 2022

Some publications were reporting that the class had been removed amid the controversy, but Westminster College’s chief marketing officer Sheila Rapazzo Yorkin shared a statement with ABC 4 confirming the class was still part of the school’s online roster. 

“Westminster College occasionally offers elective courses like this as an opportunity to analyze social issues. As 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,” her statement read. 

“Descriptions of these courses, while alarming to some readers, help students decide if they wish to engage in serious investigation of controversial subjects. This course will help students learn how to think critically about the influence of digital media culture.”

“Westminster is a private liberal arts college dedicated to offering students life and career readiness education through programs that challenge, provide diverse perspectives, and develop critical thinking skills,” the statement concluded.

The course instructor, Chanza Torres, spoke with the ABC affiliate also. She said the class is “not an attack on conservativism or religious practice.” She said she comes from a Catholic family, which was a catalyst for her studying why “sex is considered scary.”

She also said the course is not intended for students to “watch porn, giggle, and go home,” and reiterated that it was an optional offering. Torres also said, “I’m not interested in making my students copies of myself.”

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