"Does everyone know what this passage means?" Classical Studies professor Ralph Rosen asked his students last fall.
"He is 'shooting his hot energy off,'" Rosen told his class for Scandalous Arts, a course on risque art forms in classical times, in reference to an ancient Greek text.
Amid a few giggles, 75 pairs of eyes eagerly reread the section.
Though such a phrase might be considered offensive or obscene, Rosen is one of many Penn professors who make it their job to talk about edgy topics in the classroom.
One professor at the University of Arkansas, however, encountered trouble for allegedly trying to do the same.
According to the Northwest Arkansas News, music professor Kabin Thomas was "reassigned" earlier this semester after one student complained about his excessive use of swear words and adult humor during class.
Though Thomas was not officially fired, he will not teach for the remainder of the semester. Because his contract expires in May and he doesn't have tenure, Thomas doesn't expect to be back, he told the News.
The incident generated buzz at universities across the country and sparked a debate on the use of profane language in the classroom.
Administrators at Penn, on the other hand, maintain that such a scandal would probably never happen here.
According to Nancy Nicely, a spokeswoman for the Provost's Office, University policy makes it impossible to discipline a professor "for the use of foul language in the classroom."
Nicely added that any student is still free to complain to department chairs or undergraduate deans if something a professor says is offensive.
But neither Rosen nor Religious Studies professor Michael Eric Dyson -- who teaches a class on hip-hop culture that mandates he quote curse words from music -- has ever received a complaint from a student regarding their language while teaching.
"I'm not out to shock," Rosen said. "But I want to be frank and honest about the material. If there's obscenity in the ancient language, I'm going to translate it as such."
And Dyson maintains that Penn's dedication to academic freedom gives him license to discuss the controversial issues that inevitably arise in his class.
His current course deals with the treatment of women in "gangsta rap," elements of drug culture and the examination of social inequities by musicians, for example.
"If you can't talk about it in the classroom, where can you talk about it?" Dyson said. "What's more profane -- the language people use to describe something or the actual realities they face?"
Both Dyson and English professor Heather Love agree that language can be used to break down social and cultural barriers, even if it is obscene.
In Love's class Theories of Gender and Sexuality, discussions of gay sex are the norm, and words that could be considered slurs are frequently employed.
"If I use the word 'fag' in class, it's clear that I'm using it in a critical sense," Love said. "If you're going to criticize things, you have to be explicit in naming them."
Professors are also safe when it comes to constructing their own curricula, no matter how provocative the subject matter.
When School of Arts and Sciences professors submit new courses for approval, they undergo a process of examination from the SAS Curriculum Committee.
According to Eric Schneider, assistant dean for SAS Academic Affairs, the criteria for assessing a course center on logistics like grading policies and how the course fits into the undergraduate curriculum -- not on content.
Questions regarding course content are "inappropriate and violate academic freedom," Schneider said.
And for Rosen, that freedom is something he takes advantage of every day.
As he continued to read to his Scandalous Arts class, Rosen was unfazed by the smirks the sexual passage elicited.
"In the next line, he docks at her grass borders," Rosen told the class. "Does anyone know what that means?"
