I read with interest yesterday's front-page article, "Porn is hot course on campus." As an English major in college, I took courses similar to those described in the article, and suffered the derision of many classmates and others who were enrolled in "real" education.
What courses such as "Cross-Dressing in Literature and Film" taught me went way beyond writing a paper for a grade or classroom theorization. I learned to examine daily events—riding in a subway train, eating in a crowded cafeteria—for lessons in cultural, societal, sexual, and gender identity. I learned to look beyond the surface of what is being said or done to establish intent.
These lessons I have continued to use throughout my life, in job interviews, dealing with colleagues, even the dating world. I've never identified an igneous rock or debated Dickens [sic] imagery in my daily life. Pornography and sexuality are part of our everyday—every moment—lives.
—Kelsey Miller
Belmont
[Ed.: The cross-dressing class has Harvard's Marjorie Garber written all over it.]
