On April 11, the students of Love and Lust held their 2nd annual teach-in for the Muskie community to learn about several important topics, including love and lust in the media, consent, bystander intervention, toxic relationships and dating safety. Held in the campus event space, the teach-in allowed students to engage with these topics through a series of booths.
Scattered around the event space, each booth held unique information for students to investigate.
At the love and lust in the media booth, students explored various healthy and unhealthy examples of romance within television, movies, social media and more.The consent booth allowed students to explore setting personal boundaries and respecting the boundaries of others regarding love & lust through the acronym FRIES.
- Freely given
- Reversible
- Informed
- Enthusiastic
- Specific
Students visiting this booth could use the acronym above to review hypothetical situations and determine if consent was fully achieved.
The bystander intervention booth featured a game of love pong to teach students ways to recognize potentially harmful situations and respond in helpful ways.
At the toxic relationship booth, students discussed various types of intimate partner violence, including physical and emotional abuse, narcissism and gaslighting. They also learned about the recovery process involved after experiencing a toxic relationship. The
Students visiting the dating safety booth explored online dating and red/green flags of relationships. In doing so, students received information and resources needed to negotiate the challenges of modern dating safely and respectfully.
Professor Dr. Aimee Burns, who teaches GEN 325: Love and Lust, hopes to continue this yearly event so students can come together and engage with these important topics. This event challenges students to not only gain the knowledge required to initiate and maintain healthy relationships, but it also allows students to engage with these topics in a creative, student-led way.
The teach-in hopes to encourage students to rewrite the narratives of love and lust in healthier ways. It gives a way to provide healthy boundaries for themselves while also inspiring others around them.
