Each term, it inspires women to break up with their boyfriends. Sexual assault survivors are able to find the courage to tell their stories. Men step forward to discuss struggling with stereotypes of masculinity. These are a few effects Bonnie Mann’s course, the Philosophy of Love and Sex, has on her students. Of all of the courses she teaches, Mann calls the sexuality and intimate relationships philosophy class the most important one. The University of Oregon philosophy professor teaches everything from introductory undergraduate courses to graduate classes, but none, she said, have the same impact as the Philosophy of Love and Sex.

“If I were to step back and ask what class has the most impact on students, it’s that one,” Mann said. “It, I hope, provides a way for philosophy to be of use to folks in their own lives because everyone falls in love, and everyone has to figure out who they are sexually.”

It is because of the universal nature of the subject that the class can affect so many people.

“(Love and sex) is a huge part of what it means to be human,” Mann said. “It’s also a huge part of what it means to be a college student.”

The class explores this subject by asking students to consider societal ideas of sexual identity and what they believe is important in intimate relationships.

“I hope the class allows people to reflect on their lives as lovers and as sexual beings and to think, ‘How do I want to live this aspect of existence?’ (instead of just accepting social norms),” Mann said. “For many of us, a more vibrant life comes from questioning those roles rather than just accepting them.”

Asking questions was what led Mann to the life she has now. Mann remembers being haunted by philosophical questions of religion, poverty and destiny since the age of 10, but there were few answers for her. Though she was an academically driven young girl, she grew up in an impoverished family in the town of North Powder, Ore., which had little more than 300 people.

“As a girl with an intense intellectual passion, I spent the years between 10 and 18 feeling really frustrated because there was nothing to do with that,” Mann said.

However, she knew education was her key to a better life.

“I had the sense that if I didn’t want to lead the life my parents lived — which involved extremely hard physical labor — that college was the way to escape that,” she said.

So in 1979, Mann went to the University of Portland, where she took her first philosophy class. Mann was deeply affected. By the time the course was through, she had switched her major from journalism to philosophy.

“For me, philosophy was so compelling because it was the first time I felt that questions that had been plaguing me since I was 10 years old were being asked very deeply,” Mann said.

Mann now teaches courses that continue to explore issues in a similar way. However, asking these questions is not always comfortable, particularly in Philosophy of Love and Sex. Because the class challenges societal norms of sexuality, Mann said the course can be uncomfortable for some.

However, she said this is how learning happens.

“If I taught a course that was comfortable for everyone, I would think I had failed as a teacher, just failed miserably,” she said, “because we learn when we are uncomfortable.”

Through challenging societal norms of sexuality, Mann hopes the class makes students consider their identity in intimate relationships in new ways.

“For young people who are just embarking on their sexual and intimate lives,” Mann said, “what I hope is that the possibilities for what those relationships look like … open up.”