At Salt Lake City College, Students Can Watch Hard Core Porn Together

SALT LAKE CITY, UT — It's not unheard of for a college or university to offer odd or uncommon classes. In the past, students have taken classes on bagpipes, getting dressed, bowling, wine, puppetry, and even tree climbing.

But one Salt Lake City college may take the cake.

At Westminster College, a private, accredited liberal arts college, students can take a two-credit course on pornography, where they'll watch hard core pornography together. The course is available under the topics of literature, media, and writing; gender studies; and film.

"Hard core pornography is as American as apple pie and more popular than Sunday night football," a description for the course reads. "Our approach to this billion-dollar industry is as both a cultural phenomenon that reflects and reinforces sexual inequalities (but holds the potential to challenge sexual and gender norms) and as an art form that requires serious contemplation."

The description adds that students will "watch pornographic films together and discuss the sexualization of race, class, and gender and as an experimental, radical art form."

The college told KSL it "occasionally offers elective courses like this as an opportunity to analyze social issues."

"As part of this analysis, Westminster College and universities across the county often examine potentially offensive topics like pornography to further understand their pervasiveness and impact. Descriptions of these courses, while alarming to some readers, help students decide if they wish to engage in serious investigation of controversial subjects," the college said.

Westminster added that the course will help students with critical thinking about digital media culture.

The class raised eyebrows and questions on social media.

"What is going on in Salt Lake City at Westminster College?!?" one person wrote on Facebook. "A credited film class where they watch porn together? I’m not aware of another college or university across the nation that offers such a class. But for $37,000 a year at Westminster College on 1300 East in SLC you can. Unbelievable."

She added: "And to think students are taking out loans to finance loading their minds with this kind of garbage."

Another Facebook commenter wrote, "I think I may throw up," she said. "I saw this in a tweet and didn’t believe it so I looked it up."

Conservative political commentator Candace Owens told her followers: "I thought this was a joke— it isn’t."