Abstract
Despite the pervasive reach of rape culture on college campuses, university sexual harassment trainings frequently fail to provide students with clear definitions of sexual violence, often avoid using intersectional frameworks to teach students about the topic, and obscure the bureaucratic complexities that inhibit survivors’ abilities to seek out appropriate resources when they experience sexual trauma. As such, this article outlines communication strategies for feminist instructors interested in improving their students’ understanding of sexual harassment, given that social science and humanities classrooms provide apt spaces for grappling with difficult topics and the way in which language constructs our reality. We propose role-playing communication as a pedagogical practice that forwards a feminist paradigm of instruction by bringing clarity to definitions of sexual harassment, helping students demystify reporting processes at their institutions, and showing university learners how to support victims across intersectional differences.
Recommended Citation
Buisker, Lauren L. and Johnson, Kylie
(2025)
"What is “So Severe, Pervasive, and Objectively Offensive?”: Defining Sexual Harassment, Investigating Reporting Requirements, and Supporting Disclosures with Communicative Role-Playing,"
Feminist Pedagogy: Vol. 6:
Iss.
2, Article 1.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/feministpedagogy/vol6/iss2/1
Included in
Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Commons, Interpersonal and Small Group Communication Commons, Organizational Communication Commons, Other Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, Rhetoric Commons, Social Justice Commons, Women's Studies Commons