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Twelve years ago, when Boston College professor Kerry Cronin first started offering extra credit if her students asked someone on a date, she realized that “the social script of dating was really long gone,” as she told the Washington Post.
Going on a date — even if it’s just for coffee — in college had become a “a weirdly countercultural thing to do,” she noticed, mostly due to the rise of hookup culture on campuses that are redefining conventional notions of intimacy, sex, and relationships among Generation Z. If that surprises you, you’re maybe a little old-fashioned — but certainly not alone. Tufts seniors Ailish Dougherty and Jessica Fan were inspired by Cronin’s experiences and findings to teach What Is (Modern) Love? at the ExCollege this spring.
They’re not seeking one definite answer to that oft-discussed topic, but instead are focused on creating “ a space where students could speak from a place of vulnerability and honesty and could hopefully, through a series of discussions, get a better idea of what the answer could be to each person,” as Jessica puts it.
“That article...was really the impetus for us in developing this course, mainly because of how shocking it was to realize that our peers seem to have lost the ability to build in-person connections — and also, to experience that loss ourselves,” explains Ailish, a Child Study and Human Development major and a captain for the varsity swim team. Jessica, who’s majoring in Community Health and Entrepreneurial Leadership Studies and is also on the swim team, says that “We decided to spend the summer experimenting with going on dates ourselves just to see what we'd learn from it. That torpedoed into sending each other a lot of articles related to love, and putting them together in a syllabus.”
Now, it’s an actual course, and the two instructors have big plans for the rest of the semester. Jessica is most enthusiastic about an upcoming class discussion on “fantasies,” a “topic that can be awkward, uncomfortable, and one that people tend to shy away from,” while Ailish is excited about their students making podcasts and creative final presentations, as well as a potential collaboration with another ExCollege peer-taught course, Social Discourse Through TV Comedy, led by seniors Shaan Merchant and Reed Collins.
At the end of the day, despite all its universal truths, love is a deeply personal experience that changes people in different ways. Ailish, who went through a “pretty devastating” breakup as a first-year, now views that experience “as one that has shaped me into the person I am today, for better or worse... it greatly affected how I engage in relationships with others, and how I see myself.” While this class isn’t exactly replicating that heartbreaking learning experience, if there’s one thing that Ailish hopes their students leave the class with, it’s “a nuanced understanding of love in this generation, a newfound or honed ability to self-reflect, and hopefully a challenged or changed perspective on how they communicate and engage in relationships with their peers.” Jessica echoes, “I'm hoping students leave our class feeling like they understand themselves better.”
About the Author
Max Lalanne is a senior majoring in Film & Media Studies. Born in Paris and raised in New Hampshire, when he's not writing for The ExPress, he's running his own daily newsletter, News in French. He plans to continue a career in media and publishing.
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