At the University of Texas at Austin, students can select from a wide variety of courses to fulfill their core curriculum. One of the courses that fulfills the Social & Behavioral Sciences component is PSY 306, Introduction to Human Sexuality.
Last week, a slideshow from a lecture in this course went viral on YikYak, an anonymous social media platform popular among college students. In the slideshow, a slide (shown above) titled “What Triggers Orgasm in Women?” listed how an orgasm can be induced via several forms of stimulation, including “clitoral stimulation,” “vaginal stimulation,” “breast/nipple stimulation,” and “easier via masturbation than with partner.”
Another slide featured two explicit images—one of an arachnid figure performing oral sex on a woman, and another of a man performing a sexual act on a scorpion-like figure. Screenshots of these slides from YikYak are included below.
In the original post, the anonymous user who posted a screenshot of the slideshow joked, saying, “Thanks teach! I’m studying heavily!!!” In the comments, another anonymous user who claimed to have taken the class before responded, “that class was so freaky.” Other comments made light of the images, with one user writing, “what could u possible learn about this [crying laughing emoji].”
In the course syllabus, students are told they will “learn about all the stages of the human sexual response including: sexual attraction, sexual desire, arousal, and orgasm. You will learn what enhances and what inhibits each of these stages from psychological (e.g., relationships, mood, past experiences), evolutionary (e.g., how mating strategies evolved), and physiological (e.g., hormonal, neurological) perspectives.” The syllabus also warns students of “upsetting and disturbing material,” including “sexual attraction, sexual orienation, sexual assault, pedophilia,” and more.
Course lectures include topics such as “What Men Find Sexually Attractive,” “Atypical Sexuality,” “Internet Sex Crimes,” “Pedophilia & Child Pornography,” “Orgasm, and “Sex Robots.” Most lectures are paired with corresponding assigned readings or videos, such as an article on why teens are having more rough sex and a TED Talk on orgasms. Previous iterations of the course also included lectures on non-binary sexual development and transgenderism.
In the Spring 2025 semester, 291 out of 310 students received an A or B in the course. 220 received A’s, 71 received B’s.
The course is taught by Cindy M. Meston, Ph.D. for the fall 2025 semester.
Given the recent announcement of the establishment of a Core Curriculum Task Force to review the University’s general curriculum requirements, it is likely that courses like PSY 306 will be first on the chopping block. Since the task force aims to “identify gaps in rigor, quality, or intellectual cohesion,” it will not be surprising if courses with high grade distributions and overtly explicit and sensational content face increased scrutiny and are removed from the Social & Behavioral Sciences curriculum.
