Teaching “Love and War”

Abstract

Colleges and universities in the United States have been challenged to implement sometimes vague and constantly evolving federal laws and departmental guidance regarding how to respond to and prevent gender-based violence (GBV). State legislatures are also creating laws that may not be consistent with federal law and guidance. This chapter challenges the current model for addressing GBV by suggesting that, to be truly transformational, universities must give pedagogical time and space to the root causes and cultural underpinnings of GBV. The chapter describes a year-long interdisciplinary course offered to freshmen, co-taught by a philosophy professor and the Title IX coordinator, which, to transform students’ understanding, uses philosophers such as Plato to examine sexual violence and how it is structured in Western culture. The authors advocate for universities to incorporate classroom and organizational responses and collaborations to mitigate a culture of violence to eradicate GBV from higher education.