St. Lawrence University ‘Great (S)expectations’ course to consider ‘alternatives to marriage’ like ‘polyamory’

A liberal arts college in Canton, New York, is offering a course on sexuality that seems to suggest that having multiple sexual partners should be seen as a viable alternative to marriage.

St. Lawrence University is offering the “Great (S)expectations” course to make students consider the “alternatives” to “societal expectations” of “monogamy, marriage, and procreation.” A course description appears on the university’s spring semester list.

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According to the description, students will examine: “Why might one choose monogamy versus polyamory? What are the alternatives to marriage? What happens when you get married and it doesn’t work out? Is a life without children meaningful? And if you do have children, how should you parent them? If you want children, but find yourself struggling to conceive, what happens then? What happens as you get older? What bodily changes might you expect?”

“The status quo of sex education presents students with a ‘master design’ for their lives,” it continues. “This class will help students question if that design is right for them, why it’s presented as the only right way to live, and what the actual execution of a particular design entails.”

Jessica Sierk, an Associate Professor of Education, will be teaching “Great (S)expectations.” She manages a sex education Instagram page with posts created by St. Lawrence University students about topics such as “understanding demisexuality,” “the orgasm gap and sex toys,” and “consensual non-monogamy.” 

According to her university bio, Sierk also teaches “Sexuality Education, Identity in Higher Education, Critical Whiteness Studies, and Critical Media Literacy.”

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Sierk’s course is one of many others on college and university campuses covering sexuality. Northwestern University students, for example, can take a course this spring semester titled “Beyond Porn: Sexuality, Health and Pleasure.”

“Threesomes. Squirting. Vibrators. Butt plugs. Multiple orgasms. You may have seen them in pornography, but have you ever wanted to study and talk about sex,” the description states. “Many people look to pornography not just for entertainment, but also for education about what satisfying sexual encounters look like.”

Campus Reform contacted St. Lawrence University and Jessica Sierk for comment. This story will be updated accordingly.