May 2, 2006
NEWSHuman sexuality class attracts curious students
Classes about human sexuality are attracting college students interested in related careers, and the curious.
“I think students take it (the class) more as exploration,” said Susan Horton, a professor in the psychology department who teaches the course. “This is something they can explore for their own lives and then question if it is a career they might be interested in.”
The Psychology of Human Sexuality is one of three human sexuality courses offered at Mesa Community College.
According to Horton, some of the topics covered are child birth, STDs, love and relationships, rape, sexual abuse, anatomy and hormones.
“This would just be the beginning if you wanted to get into any area of therapy,” Horton said. “This is just a general knowledge course. Some students are interested in going into sex therapy or sex education which are two careers that could be really interesting.”
However, most students are taking the course for reasons other than for their degrees.
“It won’t apply to my major that much, but it gives a better education about sexual topics,” said Breann Adams, a nursing major at MCC enrolled in Horton’s class. “It’s not just for the anatomy, it’s for the psychology. It is three steps up from what you learn in high school.”
Horton agreed saying that she believes that not very many students take the class because it is associated with their major.
“Most don’t even see human sexuality related to sex therapy,” Horton said. “What I think they (the students) see it as is that we have this ambivalent culture. On one hand our culture has sex all over, plastered all over advertising, movies, everywhere. On the other hand, they’re hearing about the big culture wars going on about pharmacists who won’t give out birth control prescriptions and about all the attempts to criminalize abortion and how difficult it is to teach sex education in younger grades. And so I think it’s confusing and so they’re very interested in it…so I think the thought of going into class and talking about sex is kind of a novelty so I think a lot of people take it out of curiosity.”
However, some students are taking the class because it does relate to their major.
“It will relate back to my major,” said Ashley Brockman, a psychology major at MCC. “I need to take a broad range of topics so I decided to take it. See what it is all about.”
While Arizona State University does not offer the necessary programs, students can still find a career related to human sexuality.
“ASU does not have a specialization for human sexuality. There are only a few in the nation, one in Pennsylvania, one in San Francisco, and one in Minnesota, there are very few. But you don’t have to major in human sexuality to become a sex therapist; you can learn that through workshops,” Horton added.
If a student wants to become a sex therapist then the student needs to get a minimum of a master’s degree in psychology, counseling, or social work, Horton said.
According to Horton, she tries to get students to realize that there are not many careers you can have with just a bachelor’s degree in psychology.
Some students who are undecided in their field of study take the class to see what else is available to them.
Jes Carroll, a student at MCC, said that she doesn’t know what she wants to major in so she took the class because it was another part of the psychology department.
Heidi Lange, also an MCC student, agreed saying that regardless of a students major everyone should take the class because students learn so much about human sexuality they did not know.
“I find that not a lot of students are really set on what careers they want yet so they see college as a career exploration,” Horton said. “I want them to know that this one area in psychology.”
Students who would like to learn more about the course can contact Susan Horton in the Psychology Department at (480) 461-7029.