Things appear to have changed a bit since I attended Northwestern. Prof. John Michael Bailey gave his students an optional demonstration as part of his “Human Sexuality” class with a naked couple having sex in his class.
Over 100 students watched as a man used a sex toy on a woman in the class. The woman told reporters that she agreed to speak with the students as a member of the “fetish community” but was happy to serve as the focus of a demonstration in the aptly named Ryan Family Auditorium.
If there is any consistency in students, I hope at least one student ask “is this going to be on the test?”
It might also be a good idea for faculty to try not to follow Professor Bailey on the schedule for the classroom.
In fairness to the professor, he has roughly 600 students and did not require attendance at the demonstration. Moreover, Professor Bailey did not originate the idea.
However, a student was quoted as saying that “We were told we were going to have some people talk to us about the fetish world and kink.”
The University stood by its professor as a matter of academic freedom. Alan K. Cubbage, vice president for University Relations, stated “Northwestern University faculty members engage in teaching and research on a wide variety of topics, some of them controversial and at the leading edge of their respective disciplines. The University supports the efforts of its faculty to further the advancement of knowledge.”
The class was narrated by Ken Melvoin-Berg, who was paid $300 to $500 for his appearance. Payments for such displays could raise legal issues, particularly if the woman was paid. There is no indication that Faith Knoll, 25, was paid. Indeed the change to a live demonstration was not unwelcomed by Knoll or her partner Jim Marcus, 45: Knoll’s particular fetish is “being in front of people, having the attention and being used.” She used the live demonstration to prove that female orgasm is real — a point that one would think could be accepted without a live demonstration.
Bailey insists that his students are not “fragile children” but grown ups studying sexuality.
For my part, I just feel entirely deflated. I have been nervous about introducing new handouts in class on legal doctrines in tort. Now I feel much less of a rebel.
Source: Sun-Times
Jonathan Turley
I knew I graduated too damn early and maybe should have expanded my options a little more so….. I wonder if I could have audited the course……
Wow! that is one tough act to follow. Did the students who witnessed this “demonstration” get extra credit? And with this kind of demonsration, I am afraid to ask what the extra credit was!
Bob,Esq.
1, March 3, 2011 at 10:45 am
Mespo: That weekend at the college
didn’t turn out as you planned;
The things that pass for knowledge,
I can’t understand.
~ Steely Dan
I think Professor Bailey needs a sabbatical. Maybe at a Motel 6.”
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Mespo’s unconscious at work: While commenting on a live sex demonstration using a ‘sex toy’, Mespo quotes ‘Steely Dan’
“Being fans of Beat Generation literature, Fagen and Becker named the band after “Steely Dan III from Yokohama”, a strap-on dildo referred to in the William S. Burroughs novel The Naked Lunch.”
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The things one learns on this blog …
“Stamford Liberal 1, March 3, 2011 at 10:10 am
I suspect future attendance will increase …”
Took the words out of my mouth,LOL!!
Mespo: That weekend at the college
didn’t turn out as you planned;
The things that pass for knowledge,
I can’t understand.
~ Steely Dan
I think Professor Bailey needs a sabbatical. Maybe at a Motel 6.”
====
Mespo’s unconscious at work: While commenting on a live sex demonstration using a ‘sex toy’, Mespo quotes ‘Steely Dan’
“Being fans of Beat Generation literature, Fagen and Becker named the band after “Steely Dan III from Yokohama”, a strap-on dildo referred to in the William S. Burroughs novel The Naked Lunch.”
Rich:
Your comments ring true to me based on this little episode.
For my part, I just feel entirely deflated. I have been nervous about introducing new handouts in class on legal doctrines in tort. Now I feel much less of a rebel.
LOL… yes, the Northwestern prof does kind of raise the bar!
That weekend at the college
didn’t turn out as you planned;
The things that pass for knowledge,
I can’t understand.
~ Steely Dan
I think Professor Bailey needs a sabbatical. Maybe at a Motel 6.
Stamford Liberal,
Perhaps we should sign up … then protest the banality …
Who do I screw to get out of this class?
I suspect future attendance will increase …
Bailey is notorious for using questionable research methods. He did a book on homosexuality which raised some hypotheses well at odds with established research. Much of his own “background work” on the book involved interviews with trangendered people (not the same as gay, obviously) who were not told that their conversations would wind up in a book, often with enough identifying information to “out” them. As a result, he resigned as Chair of the Psychology Department, but was able to retain his tenured faculty position. Somehow, he managed to become Chair of what once was a a highly respected psychology department at Northwestern. Over time, it’s lost it’s big names, which may explain why he wound up as Chair.
Bailey also does schlocky survey work based on convenience samples–because he does not collect identifiers, he’s able to use oral informed consent, except it isn’t very “informed”. I called him on this when I encountered him doing one of these surveys at an event in DC.
He is coy about his own sexuality and its difficult to know if he’s gay, bi, or merely a heterosexual voyeur. Clearly, he like to court notoriety. he’s come out advocating things like parents choosing the sexual orientation of their children. The demo clearly raises some questions—misrepresentation of what was to occur; acts that could be demonstrated by video or in a private way through , e.g., downloading reserved or otherwise protected media. Basically, the guy is slob and an unethical researcher. he should have been turned out years ago.
@buckeye: no apparently the problem is that the woman might have been paid. Not a problem for the man being paid, though.
sb: “Jim Marcus said he and his fiancé hadn’tplanned
“Jim Marcus said he and his fiancé planned to show off the sex act at first, but decided to do so after the class watched a video on female orgasm that he thought was unrealistic. They already had brought the equipment to show as part of the discussion.
“It seems like a human sexuality class is a smart place to dispel some of the mistakes that we saw in the video,” said Marcus, a musician 8) who also teaches sex education.
He said the demonstration with his fiancé, Faith Kroll, was different from a live sex show or pornography. …… “I hope (Bailey) doesn’t take a lot of flak for this, but I suspect he will,” Marcus said.” (Chicago Tribune … thanks SwM)
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Only 100 of the class’s 600 students were present … I feel a little bit sorry for the prof who is taking the heat for the improv of his guests. But, other than that, what’s the big deal?
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chibrknews-northwestern-to-pay-for-live-sex-toy-demonstration-20110302,0,3942305.story
Second thought – wouldn’t it have been cheaper for the prof to just rent a DVD?
So is the problem that they were nekkid?
I have quite a few family members that attended Northwestern. Its reputation is a very traditional one but it must have changed since we toured the school five years ago. Will ask my sister what she has heard about this as she lives nearby.
This was done so much better in Monte Python’s “The Meaning of Life”
Oh wait – this was an actual class? At a real university? YIKES!