World News 03.26.13

• UNITED STATES: Scientists aim to bring back 22 extinct species (The Journal.ie)
• INDIA: Ford India apologizes for offensive bondage ad (Guardian)
• ARMENIA: Aiming to build a better society, chess becomes mandatory in all Armenian schools (Al Jazeera)
• TUNISIA: Cleric calls for a stoning after girl posts topless photo of herself  on Facebook (Al Arabiya)
• FRANCE: Hundreds of thousands protest same-sex marriage in Paris (Guardian)
• INTERNATIONAL: Syrian and Sudanese refugees are photographed with their most prized possessions (Huffington Post)

Reflection 06: This is How We Do It—Comparing Global Sexual Education Efforts

Speaking to a United Nations AIDS conference in 1994, then-US Surgeon General Dr. Jocelyn Elders suggested that masturbation was "part of human sexuality, and perhaps it should be taught." After a swift public outcry, she was fired by President Clinton. Nearly twenty years later, masturbation is only one of many topics that remain taboo in the sex education classes of America. Today, fights rage over everything from abstinence-only programs to the presence of contraceptives on campuses; even the mere mentions of abortion and homosexuality are hotly debated. While some Americans favor sex education based on current sexual health information, others insist on abstinence-based approaches—if at all. Thus, sex education here varies widely from state to state, even county to county. But what of the rest of the world? What are some of the approaches countries are taking to teach (or not teach) their citizens about sexual health? What issues are other countries tackling that aren't mentioned in the American national dialogue. Finally, what do you like or not like about how sex education is taught around the world? What, if anything, should we adopt in this country?

Include at least three of the following pieces in your discussion:

• "China’s Sex-Ed Problem" (Daily Beast)
• "Sex Education in Egypt: The Elephant in the Room" (Al Bawaba)
• "Push to Add Sex Education to National Curriculum (The Age)
• "Sweden: Straight Facts about the Birds and the Bees" (US News & World Report)
• "Maybe We Should Outsource Our Sex Education to Mexico" (AlterNet) 
• "No Sex Education, Please, We're Italian" (EuropeanVoice)

Requirements:

• MLA Style
• Two full pages in length
• Works cited page

Due: Th 04.04

WEEK 10: UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

A nation without a past is a nation without 

a present or a future. Thanks to God, our 

nation has a flourishing civilization, 

deep-rooted in this land for many centuries. 

These roots will always flourish and bloom 

in the glorious present of our nation and 

in its anticipated future."

—Sheikh Zayed, former president of the UAE

WEEK 10: UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Tu 03.26

No class—Spring break

Th 03. 28

No class—Spring break

UPCOMING:

WEEK 11: GERMANY

Read: FRENCH—“Prologue: Abélard and Héloïse, Patron Saints of French Lovers” – “2: Gallant Love – La Princesse de Clèves,” “4: Seduction and Sentiment – Prévost, Crébillon fils, Rousseau, and Laclos” – “5: Love Letters – Julie de Lespinasse,” “8: Love Among the Romantics - George Sand and Alfred de Musset,” “10: Love in the Gay Nineties - Cyrano de Bergerac”

Tu 04.02

Reading discussion; Lecture—“Paris on Film”

Th 04.04

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY

Due: REFLECTION 06