Amy Zsohar’s Interpersonal Communication classes present virtually during Sex Week
Amy Zsohar, communication studies faculty at Inver Hills Community College, reported that two sections of her Interpersonal Communication course partnered with the Center for Career Development and Community-Based Learning (CCD+CBL), Student Life, and the Counseling & Advising department to focus their learning experience through the lens of domestic violence, sexual assault, and healthy relationships.
Today’s Inver Hills News post will spotlight projects on healthy relationships. You can view projects on domestic violence and sexual assault by reading the Inver Hills News stories, “Students Research Domestic Violence” and “Students Research Sexual Assault.”
“My students attended an advocacy training session led by Nicki Bottko Woods, student life associate director, and Jenni Yamada, student life activities coordinator, ” Amy said. “They spent a day learning about the impact of toxic masculinity on intersectional identities from Kyle Tran Myhre, better known as Guante.”
Amy added that her students studied the presence of sexual assault and domestic violence in popular culture. On Student Success Day during spring semester 2020, a number of her students hosted a table in the Fine Arts lobby, collecting almost 100 signatures from Inver Hills campus community members making a commitment to fight sexual assault and domestic violence in concert with the Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault (MNCASA).
“The students researched topics with the goal to help educate the Inver Hills student population,” Amy said. “The original assignment involved presenting brief lessons in The Lounge in the College Center during Sex Week at Inver Hills, April 27 through April 30. Once the COVID-19 pandemic hit and Minnesota’s governor issued a stay-at-home order, the students quickly rose to the challenge of adapting their projects to a more technology-based model.”
Student projects varied in format from infographics, PowerPoints, videos, websites, podcasts and traditional academic papers; they worked alone, in pairs or small groups. The assignment asked students to consider the following questions as they developed their projects:
- What is the definition of your topic?
- Why did you choose this topic?
- Who does this topic impact?
- What does the general community need to know about your topic?
“Each and every project shows the passion and importance of talking about difficult topics such as sexual assault and domestic violence,” Amy said. “Starting on the very first day of class, survivors and victims felt empowered to share their stories with me, with their classmates, and in some cases, through this assignment.”
Websites about healthy relationships…
Healthy Relationships
Student projects
Toxic Masculinity
by Jamison S. and Marcos F.
What Is Consent and Why Do We Need It?
Podcast
by Logan Klein and Brooke Larson
Previously on Inver Hills News Monday, April 27, 2020: Students Research Domestic Violence
Previously on Inver Hills News Thursday, April 29, 2020: Students Research Sexual Assault
Learn more about Communication Studies at Inver Hills by contacting:
Shiloh Gideon-Sjostrom
Communication Studies Faculty
651-450-3658
Amy Zsohar, PhD
Communication Studies and Interdisciplinary Faculty
LGBT+ Club Sponsor
651-450-3659
