Sisterhood and Sexual Assault: Engaging Sorority Members in Dialogue, Critical Analysis, and Feminist Praxis
Family Relations / Family Relations Interdisciplinary Journal of Applied Family Studies
Published online on May 16, 2017
Abstract
Taking a feminist pedagogy and praxis approach, I present a course model for engaging sorority members in critical analysis and feminist praxis around the issue of campus rape culture. This course model responds to two problems: (a) the prevailing disconnect between the efforts of departments of student affairs and academic affairs and (b) the untapped potential that faculty members with sorority or fraternity affiliations have as change agents by identifying themselves publically on campus. The resulting course provides a women‐only space where issues such as sexual assault can be analyzed, critiqued, and challenged in ways that incorporate the nuances within Greek subcultures on university campuses. Such courses may provide students with the intellectual space to challenge campus issues such as campus rape culture as well as empower them to engage in feminist praxis as change agents.