Graduate students at the University of Minnesota will now have the chance to focus their studies on “the birds and the bees” as part of the university’s public health curriculum.
The public university’s Board of Regents recently approved a new “sexual health” minor that will be available beginning this fall, Minnesota Daily reports. The campus newspaper adds the program is “among the first of its kind in the nation.”
From the article:
The program will merge education on sexual health, sexual behavior and sexuality, highlighting the public health implications of the subject.
Simon Rosser, professor of epidemiology and community health, spearheaded the minor program, which requires eight credits for masters’ students and 12 for doctoral students.
Rosser said he led the push for the program after noting a nationwide student interest in the field while counseling and advising students.
“There’s a lack of similar opportunities across the nation,” Rosser said, “and we want to attract the best students.”
The minor will include courses covering a variety of subjects, including HIV, AIDS, reproductive health and women’s and LGBT studies.
According to the Daily, Rosser began teaching a “Sex, Sexuality and Sexual Health” course last year that “eventually paved the way for the minor”:
Timothy Presley, a University alumnus who took the course, said it focused on interpretations of sexual health and sexuality across cultures, as well as helpful training on how to maturely broach these topics.
Professor and associate dean Kristin Anderson told the campus newspaper the topic of sexual health fits into every academic discipline.
“Sexuality is relevant to everybody, so whatever field you’re in, there’s an aspect related [to sexual health],” she said.
The University of Minnesota isn’t the only public university to launch a program dedicated to sex. Students at the State University of New York at Potsdam can also minor in “Sexual Health.” Indiana University and the University of Kansas both offer a “Human Sexuality” minor.
MORE: The case for single-sex environments on campus
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