Time magazine wrapped up 2017 by naming the “Silence Breakers” of the #MeToo movement its Person of the Year. The article provides a useful recounting of the long-overdue reckoning that took place that year. Read that piece, then follow up by doing one of the following:

1. Comment on a vital insight from the article.
2. Find a compelling opinion piece discussing #MeToo and bring its conclusions to our attention in a brief summary (include a link).
3. Find news coverage of opposition to #MeToo and bring it to our attention in a brief summary (include a link).
4. Find a political protest organization that’s taking on the issues of sexual harassment and/or rape culture and bring its tactics to our attention (brief summary + link).

Under the provisions of Title IX, a law enacted in 1972, colleges and universities that receive federal funding must ensure equal access to education regardless of sex. This had a big impact on intercollegiate athletics, greatly expanding both the number of women’s teams and their level of funding. But in recent years news coverage has focused on the role that university disciplinary procedures play—or fail to play—in adjudicating accusations of rape and sexual harassment. In one particularly fraught case, Emma Sulkowicz, a Columbia University undergraduate, carried a mattress around campus and even onstage during graduation to protest the university’s failure to act on a rape accusation she had leveled against a fellow student. That student, Paul Nungesser, later sued the university under Title IX on the grounds that it had failed to protect him from her slanderous accusation.

For HW, do one of the following:

1. Look into the Sulkowicz/Nungesser story and trends or patterns in how it’s been reported, over time or in different publications.
2. Check out the Title IX Tracker hosted by the Chronicle of Higher Education. Find an interesting case and bring it to our attention.
3. Look at the reporting on Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’s initiative to redefine Ed Department guidelines for how universities police sexual misconduct. Report on her initiative and provide a link to an article you found particularly informative or insightful.
4. Find a political protest organization discussing Title IX issues and bring its tactics to our attention (brief summary + link).