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A course dealing with social and economic changes which today are influencing the relations of men and women before and after marriage; scientific information which has promoted the study of mate choice and marital adjustment; the development of affection in the individual, and the achievement of heterosexuality; substitutes for mate love and the adjustment of the single person; the choice of a mate; courtship and engagement; the nature of the marriage relationship and factors which influence adjustment to this relationship; adjustments to parenthood. |
Although wildly popular among the majority of students, the marriage
course was not without its critics. The combination of Rockwood's
progressive ideas and the explicitly sexual nature of the material
provoked considerable anxiety among the more conservative members
of the faculty, administration and student body. A letter from Miss
Allen, then Dean of Women, to Miss Vincent, Dean of Home Economics,
dated February 24, 1949, expresses concern over what Allen terms
a "problem of semantics." Citing material in the marriage course
as support, several fraternities had established "dark rooms" for
the sole purpose of drinking and necking in private. Allen expressed
her dismay that Professor Rockwood advocated and encouraged pre-marital
relations in her course. In her own subsequent response to Dean
Allen, Professor Rockwood defended the validity of her marriage
course, asserting that she could not be held responsible for students
misunderstanding or misinterpreting what she said in class.
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