College of Social Science professors lead a new Study Abroad program in Ireland centered around sexual consent
November 8, 2024 - Karessa Weir and Katie Frey
Associate Professors Sarah Prior (MSU Sociology ) and Megan Maas (Human Development and Family Studies) have created a new Study Abroad program entitled “Sexuality, Culture and Consent in Ireland.”
The program includes three weeks in Galway where students will learn about structural, cultural, and personal factors related to consent. Students will also undertake experiential learning by working in the community with the staff who implement the Irish-created program Active* Consent.
“Our program is a program that’s focusing on sexual health promotion and sexual violence prevention,” Prior said. “It’s a really great opportunity for students to learn about themselves and how they learn and also how to create and establish programs that are changing the world in terms of sexual health, promotion and sexual violence.”
The origins of the program came from Maas’ and Prior’s research in sexual violence and issues of consent. They applied for a strategic partnership grant through the Center for Gender in a Global Context (GenCen) to travel to the University of Galway to foster a partnership with the work being done there.
“We hit it off right away,” Maas said. “They want to bring their Active* Consent program to the U.S. and we were like, we need to do this.”
In general, active consent means each person involved is responsible for both giving and accepting consent for every sexual act. The consent must be affirmative, honest, conscious, voluntary, sober and ongoing.
University of Galway’s Active* Consent program supports young people and those that are important to them (teachers, parents, college staff and policy makers) in building their knowledge of consent as a key to positive sexual health and well-being. It includes training resources for workshops, learning modules, drama, videos and social media campaigns for colleges, high schools and sports groups.
Maas calls the Irish program “real and relatable and honors relationships that students and young people have or want to have.” She stressed that it is gender inclusive and LBGTQ+ inclusive.
According to sexual education researchers, the United States sexual education often focuses on abstinence and does a poor job of including content that is relevant for non-heterosexual relationships. In addition, the U.S. has seen significant steps backwards in terms of access to reproductive healthcare, while Ireland has made great strides toward new laws and policies focusing on expanding access to sexual and reproductive healthcare, they said.
“This is really important thing to be focusing on in issues of preventing sexual violence,” Prior said. “Any avenue where we can be teaching young people how to have conversations about consent and about violence prevention is a win for all of us.”
The program will begin in Summer 2025.
The group will also be making excursions to the Cliffs of Moher and Burren College of Art, which features artists in residence. They will also get to visit a small town where the traditional way of Irish life has been preserved, with the language being almost exclusively Gaelic.
Prior and Maas hope to take up to 15 students and will be interviewing those who are interested to make sure they are a good fit for the program. They are looking for students who are interested in public health, sociology, health communications, psychology or social work. They are giving preference to juniors and require them to have a 2.5 grade point average.
Students who sign up for the program will spend three weeks in late July and early August at the University of Galway. They will be in classes, discussions or lectures four days a week and will be able to explore the country three days a week.
“Galway is an incredibly lovely little city. It’s very walkable, very picturesque. It’s right on the ocean,” Prior said. “It’s also relatively easy to travel to other places in Ireland.”
Prior was excited to offer it to her Sociology students because the Sociology department currently doesn’t have a study abroad program.
“I really liked the idea of having a more departmentally-specific study abroad program,” Prior said. “Students like going with faculty that they know or have heard of, and can have more interaction with.”
Prior also emphasized the importance of learning from different cultures and travelling to different countries., especially through one of the many structured Study Aboard courses offered by MSU.
“I spent a year in Italy and it was the best experience in my life,” Prior said. “I constantly tell students that there is very little other times in your life where you can get to travel and learn.”
Maas as well has studied abroad in London and is excited to share that experience with students.
“It’s also important that we are a cross-department collaboration and also includes GenCen,” Maas said.
Because the program is cross-listed in Sociology and HDFS, students can get credit from either department or ISS credit. Students will be able to take between 4 and 7 credits and it will count towards their Experiential Learning requirement in the College of Social Science.
“This is a really great opportunity for anybody who’s interested in or passionate about sexual health, promotion or violence prevention,” Maas said. “It’s beyond the classroom, behind the scenes. It’s a great time of year in a really beautiful area and you get to be really T immersed in Irish culture.”
For more information, attend the informational meeting about the program at 4 p.m. November 19 in Room 9 of the Human Ecology Building. You can also get more information from the program coordinators Dr. Prior at priorsar@msu,edu and Dr. Maas at maasmeg1@msu.edu.
To apply, go to this site: https://msueducationabroad.via-trm.com/program_brochure/23827
