Fifty Shades of Grey, E.L. James' best selling trilogy, can be found on countless Kindles, Nooks and nightstands across the nation, and starting this spring, in American University's (AU) classrooms as well, according to a story in the Eagle, AU's newspaper.

The American Studies program in the College of Arts and Sciences at the university, located a few miles north of Georgetown, will offer the undergraduate course.

The course description promises to explore the "interplay of sexuality, health, public relations and marketing," describing the topics to be studied as including "feminism, addiction, social media marketing and sexual expression versus sexual repression."

The course will be taught by Professor Stef Woods, who pens the DC-based blog City Girl that seeks to "Educate. Advocate. Titillate," according to the site. Woods told the Eagle that the trilogy of novels noted for their explicit sexuality has "opened up dialogue about previously uncomfortable topics."

Sarah Voelker, a student quoted in the article, said the books are not "an accurate representation of American sexual culture," but Woods said that the trilogy is unequaled in its transformation of American culture.

The AU website  features a full course description.

Interested in seeing what all the fuss is about?

The DC Public Library has many copies of each book in the trilogy. However, all six copies of the first book in the series are currently checked out from the Georgetown Neighborhood Library. If you have an e-reader, you are in luck: the electronic version is available for download from the library for free.

Would you take this class? Would you want to pay tuition for your child to take this class?