Female Professor Placed on Leave After Showing Porn Critique

I recently read an article on a tenured professor that was placed on leave for showing a film that critiqued the porn industry called The Price of Pleasure (link here: http://chronicle.com/article/Tenured-Professor-Is-Placedon/131607/?key=Tmh6JAI7NyAXYSpnZjdBZDoAOiM4YR17YH9Nbnl/blFQFA%3D%3D). I found this a bit alarming at first, because only a few weeks ago did I see this film in one of my classes here at USC. Fortunately, it was not my professor that was placed on leave but a woman named Jammie Price at Appalachian State University. The article states that she showed the film to her introductory sociology class and afterwards many students made complaints to administrators claiming that the content of the film was inappropriate and extremely explicit. In addition to complaints against the film viewing in class, students also stated that she made inappropriate comments on her personal life, political views, and disparaging remarks on the university.

Having watched the film in question, I think that the professor (Price) was at fault if she did in fact fail to warn the students of the potentially disturbing content in the film, which the article claims she did not do. My professor warned our class about two weeks in advance about the content and repeatedly sent us emails before he showed the film, making a point to allow anyone who might be disturbed by the material to make up the class in some other way. I was not entirely shocked by the content, but there were points in the film where I was a bit disturbed and uncomfortable, however, I can see the connections between the film and the class content. In fact, after viewing the film, my professor had the class critique the film and give feedback on the message and content of the film, which I found very helpful.

Perhaps Price should not have shown the film in an introductory course. That would be my only other critique of her situation. Even so, her reasoning as to why she believes she was correct in showing the film seems valid, she says that part of the learning process for some may be to learn how to move past the disturbing material and make connections to the class. It makes sense to me. The article also describes that Price may have been placed on leave because she has spoken out against other university matter including the university’s all-male poker club which includes administrators and faculty. I think it goes without saying that as a female faculty member she has certainly undergone more scrutiny than a male faculty member would have received. The circumstances around her placement on leave are a bit unclear and the university should make things transparent about the real reasons she was placed on leave and stop making it about the showing of the film.