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 sexual assault. You can view projects on domestic violence by reading the Inver Hills News story, “Students Research Domestic Violence.”
“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.”
If you are experiencing violence, the following resources are available on campus:
Inver Hills Counseling & Advising
Make a Zoom appointment via phone: 651-450-3508
Web page: Counseling & Advising
Email: counseling@inverhills.eduInver Hills Health Service
Phone: 651-450-3525
Web page: Health Service
Email: askanurse@inverhills.eduSexual Violence Prevention
Inver Hills Community College is committed to creating a campus environment that is free of sexual violence. Sexual violence is not tolerated at Inver Hills and it takes reports about sexual violence seriously.
LEARN MORE…
More resources…
- Minnesota Day One Crisis Hotline: 866-223-1111
- 360 Communities (Dakota County): 651-405-1500
- The Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline: 800-422-4453
- National Domestic Violence Hotline: 800-799-7233
- National Sexual Assault Hotline (RAINN): 800-656-HOPE (4673)
- National Resource Center on Domestic Violence
- Rise: Domestic and sexual violence linked to COVID-19 pandemic: SURVIVOR SAFE HAVEN
Websites…
- Tumblr: Stop the Traffik
- Sexual Abuse: Children in danger
- Sexual Health and Awareness Activism: Celebrities and Sexual Violence
Sexual Assault
Student projects
Prison Rape Culture
by Lily Krekelberg and Hayden Kolinski
Sexual Assault In Pop-Culture
by Lindsey Kaleigh
Wanna know something? There is never too much knowledge to build on the topic of sexual assault and domestic violence. In fact, there is new information to take in all the time, and doing so gives us more knowledge as to how to help others in these situations and be an advocate for survivors.
In honor of sex week, we would like to talk about a topic that a lot of people decide to ignore. The Me Too movement is very popularly known for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence victims to share their stories and inform people of what can happen to them and to take extra precautions.
Specifically, we are going to be talking about R.Kelly and the stories of so many girls who were victimized by him. Netflix has a documentary called “Surviving R. Kelly.” In this documentary, so many women talk about their experiences with R. Kelly. Most of these teenage girls were also underage. 15-year-old Aaliyah was R. Kelly’s first underage “love interest.” She was told by him that he was going to make her famous through music and people had no idea that they were engaging in sexual actions during this time.
R. Kelly and Aaliyah also ran away to Chicago to get married, Aaliyah was underage and therefore she wasn’t eligible to get married, but they changed her birth date on the marriage certificate to make it legal. Robert Kelly then wrote and produced Aaliyah’s first album named “Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number” Aaliyah then later passed away in a plane crash in 2001 and he never spoke of her again.
READ MORE…
Sex Week: Sexual Assault
by Richelle Bravo and Sadie Haugo
How Are Celebrities Impacted by Allegations of Sexual Assault?
Podcast
by Bubba and Matt
Previously on Inver Hills News Monday, April 27, 2020: Students Research Domestic Violence
Appearing on Inver Hills News Thursday, April 30, 2020: Students Research Healthy Relationships
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
