Overview
LBST 415: Sex Work and Sex Workers is a three-credit, senior-level course that introduces you to sex work in Canada. This course offers an overview of the sex industry in a variety of theoretical and material contexts, as well as an in-depth focus on sex work in the Canadian context.
This course examines conflicting views about sex work and sex workers, and how those views play out in legislative approaches and how those approaches impact sex workers. In addition to reading key texts by scholarly experts on the sex industry, we will hear from sex workers themselves about their jobs, experiences, and policy recommendations.
Learning outcomes
After completing this course, you will be able to:
- Explain the functioning of the modern sex industry (including its scope, history, and dynamics) from a labour-relations perspective.
- Articulate the main legislative approaches to the regulations of sex work, including the purposes, strengths, and weaknesses of each approach.
- Identify how intersectionality affects sex work and sex-work policy.
- Analyze sex workers’ labour conditions in order to recommend policy changes that will improve safety, income, and stability.
Evaluation
To receive credit for LBST 415, you must achieve a minimum grade of D (50 percent)or better on the final examination and an overall grade of at least D (50 percent) on the entire course.
| Activity | Weight |
| Assignment 1: Telephone Quiz | 10% |
| Assignment 2: Short Essay | 20% |
| Assignment 3: Term Paper Outline | 10% |
| Assignment 4: Term Paper | 40% |
| Final Online Examination | 20% |
| Total | 100% |
The final examination for this course must be requested in advance and written under the supervision of an AU-approved exam invigilator. Invigilators include either ProctorU or an approved in-person invigilation centre that can accommodate online exams. Students are responsible for payment of any invigilation fees. Information on exam request deadlines, invigilators, and other exam-related questions, can be found at the Exams and grades section of the Calendar.
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University’s online Calendar.
Materials
Physical course materials
The following course materials are included in a course package that will be shipped to your home prior to your course’s start date:
Mac, J., & Smith, M. (2018). Revolting prostitutes: The fight for sex workers’ rights. Brooklyn, NY: Verso.
Durisin, E., van der Meulen, E., & Bruckert, C. (Eds.). (2018). Red light labour: Sex work regulations, agency, and resistance. Vancouver: UBC Press.
Other Materials
In addition to the textbooks, you will read a variety of reports, articles, and book chapters. Directions for securing these additional online readings are included in the course.