From 2020, students studying Art History and Visual Culture in the University of Exeter, will be able to take the module entitled 'Pornography: Bodies, Sex and representation', where they will learn all about the main theories and debates surrounding the making, spreading and consumption of porn.

The module will delve into a range of erotic material, including historically-censored films, gay and feminist porn and amateur pornography.

According to the university’s website it will “approach pornography as a form of cultural production that can illuminate our understanding of the ways in which our societies have conceived and represented human bodies, their sexual desires and sexual pleasures”.

The website goes on to say that the “nature of the topic” may make it challenging in a number of ways. It specifically notes that materials of a “graphic, controversial and/or explicit nature will be used” which some students may find offensive.

The module will be delivered by Dr João Florêncio. "Pornographic images have never been as produced, reproduced and consumed as they are today - they are a ubiquitous feature of contemporary visual culture,” he told the University of Exeter's student magazine, Exeposé. 

"Students will, I hope, leave the module better equipped to think critically about issues of power, censorship, obscenity, sex, sexualities, subjectivities, desires and pleasures as they intersect and are co-shaped by modern and contemporary pornography,” he added.

Interestingly, porn appears to be something of a burgeoning academic field as UC Berkeley in the US and the University of New South Wales in Australia already offer modules on the topic.

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