Duke offers trainings in 'Sexual and Gender Diversity Education'

The courses follow the Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity's mission to incorporate an 'intersectional social justice lens' to 'disrupt impacts of racism and white supremacy.'

Courses like P.R.I.D.E. training will expose 'systems of privilege and oppression and how they support and uphold allosexism, cissexism, and heterosexism.'

This fall, Duke University will be providing students with an array of educational opportunities through its Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity (CSGD), including courses like “Trans 101,” “P.R.I.D.E training,” “Asexuality 101,” and a “Pronouns Workshop.”

“We recognize the ways that racism and whiteness is embedded within the LGBTQIA+ communities,” the CSGD’s website states. “We are committed to doing our work with intersectional social justice lens that names and works to disrupt impacts of racism and white supremacy on Black and Brown members of our communities.” 

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Trans 101 will instruct students and faculty to “learn about identities related to sex, gender, gender identity, and gender expression” and “learn about the vast experiences of members of the trans community.

The course will also encourage enrollees to “begin exploring systems of privilege and oppression resulting in transphobia and cissexism.”

P.R.I.D.E training (”Pursuing Respect, Inclusion/Intersectionality, Diversity, and Equity”) is considered to be CSGD’s “signature educational program aimed at increasing awareness of issues impacting those with marginalized sexual orientations, gender identities and gender expressions.”

Consisting of four 90-minute sessions, the training will explore topics such as “systems of privilege and oppression and how they support and uphold allosexism, cissexism, and heterosexism,” as well as “the whitewashed history of modern LGBTQIA+ movements.”

In Asexuality 101, students will be granted “the opportunity to learn about identities on the asexual spectrum including but not limited to asexual, aromantic, and demisexual identities.”

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For those enrolled in the Pronoun Workshop, they will be exposed to the importance of using proper gender pronouns, especially as it relates to “creating inclusive spaces for transgender and non-binary students.”

All CSGD classes offered in the upcoming fall semester will be open to Duke students and faculty. Staff from various departments may register and schedule a Pronouns Workshop for their respective classes through the CSGD website.

Campus Reform contacted all relevant parties for comment. This article will be updated  accordingly.