YUCAIPA>> A disclaimer will be placed on an English course taught at Crafton Hills College, following complaints made by a student and her parents that the curriculum contains content they view as violent and pornographic.

Tara Shultz, 20 of Yucaipa, and her parents have been meeting with college administrators about Ryan Bartlett’s English 250 fiction course, in which he teaches graphic novels, comic books and manga.

Four of the graphic novels discussed in the course depict nudity, sex, violence and torture. They also contain obscenities.

Crafton Hills College President Cheryl A. Marshall said in an emailed statement, “We are attempting to avoid this situation in the future and Professor Bartlett has agreed to include a disclaimer on the syllabus in the future so students have a better understanding of the course content. I know he appreciated the differing views presented by Ms. Shultz in his class.”

Marshall said this is the first time a disclaimer will be placed on a syllabus that she is aware of in her eight years at the college.

Shultz, who is working toward an associate’s degree in English and an associate’s degree in American Sign Language, said she is pleased with the college’s decision to place the disclaimer on the course syllabus, but she does not believe the books should be taught in a college English course.

“I don’t want to ban the books or burn them,” Shultz said. “I don’t believe that is the right thing to do. You can read whatever you want to read. That’s the beauty of the First Amendment. I’m not trying to do anything like that at all. I just don’t believe they need to be in an English course.”

The four books Shultz and her parents found offensive were “Fun Home,” Alison Bechdel; “Y: The Last Man, Vol. 1” by Brian Vaughan; “The Sandman, Vol. 2: The Doll’s House” by Neil Gaiman; and “Persepolis,” by Marjane Satrapi.

“Fun Home” is a graphic memoir in which Bechdel tells the story of her childhood, coming out as a lesbian and learning her father was gay before his death. The book was adapted into a Broadway musical and recently won a Tony award.

“Y: The Last Man, Vol. 1” is a fictional graphic novel about Yorick Brown, an unemployed escape artist and the only surviving man of a global plague that kills every mammal possessing a Y chromosome.

“The Sandman, Vol. 2: The Doll’s House” is part of the The Sandman series, which tells the story of Dream of the Endless, who rules over the world of dreams. In the second book, three dreams escape into the waking world and a young woman is searching for her little brother.

“Persepolis” is an autobiographical graphic novel about Satrapi’s childhood and early adult years in Iran during the Islamic revolution. The book was adapted into an animated film and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Film.

Bartlett, associate professor of English, has taught the class three times.

He said in an email last week that he “chose several highly acclaimed, award-winning graphic novels in my English 250 course not because they are purportedly racy but because each speaks to the struggles of the human condition.”

Marshall said she supports the college’s policy on academic freedom, which requires an open learning environment at the college.

“Students have the opportunity to study controversial issues and arrive at their own conclusions and faculty are to support the student’s right to freedom of inquiry,” she said. “We want students to learn and grow from their college experiences; sometimes this involves reaffirming one’s values while other times beliefs and perspectives change.”

According to the college’s Academic Freedom policy, academic employees have the obligation to ensure that their classroom material meets the valid educational objectives of the course and they are entitled to freedom in the classroom in presenting the subjects they teach and shall be free to select and use textbooks and materials that they deem appropriate to meet the stated learning outcomes for the course.

Marshall said the college has a curriculum committee of 10 to 15 members, depending on the year, made up of mostly faculty who review course outlines and standards. They also review sample books and sample assignments proposed for the courses.

The syllabus distributed on the first day of class contained the list of required reading materials allowing students the opportunity to research the books and make a choice about the class, Marshall said.

Shultz said she took the course thinking it would be about fictional literature. She said she did look up some of the books online once she got the syllabus, but was unable to read more than the first few pages of the books online. Others, she had to wait to receive in the mail as they were not available at the campus bookstore, she said.

Greg Shultz, Tara’s father, said the disclaimer is a small accomplishment, but he intends to take the issue to the San Bernardino Community College District Board of Directors and has reached out to state lawmakers.

District Chancellor Bruce Baron is looking into the matter and will speak with college administrators, said Alisa Sparkia Moore, spokeswoman for the district, in an email on Baron’s behalf.

“There’s been a marked increase in people trying to ban graphic novels in educational institutions. A complaint at the college level is unusual,” said Charles Brownstein, executive director of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund — a non-profit that protects the First Amendment rights of the comics medium, according to the fund’s website.

Most of the case work has to do with parents and community members trying to get comics and graphic novels banned from middle school or high schools or from public libraries, Brownstein said.

“It’s unusual for an adult and her parents to try to have them banned,” he said.

Brownstein said the fund has seen few criminal prosecutions in recent years and more community action to ban comics from libraries and schools.

“The issue is if an individual is disturbed or offended by speech, that’s their right, but the way to handle it is not by restricting it from the rest of the community,” Brownstein said.

“Have a conversation about it and not like in the words of this student, eradicate it from the system. More speech is always better than less speech.”

Brownstein said every one of the books is award-winning and are used in education all over the United States.

“Why are we warning people about acclaimed content?”

Greg Shultz said he has read comments posted online in response to their complaints, most of which are in disagreement.

“Most of the hate posts are coming from people in the comic book world, so I guess they’re used to seeing that kind of stuff, but for us it was shocking,” he said.

Greg Shultz said he read “Fun Home” and parts of the other books.

“We’re paying for her tuition, but she decides on what classes she wants to take without us getting involved at all. She’s her own person, but we’re also a family,” Greg Shultz said, adding that they also have 16-year-old twins living at home.

Tara Shultz said she showed her parents the books and that she agrees with their reaction.

“So to know your money is kind of being wasted on something that is pornographic and contains pedophilia and contains rape jokes and murder and absolutely horrible, graphic violence is a very large disappointment,” Tara Shultz said. “The fact this is being taught as an English course or at least trying to be taught as an English course was appalling not only to myself, but to my parents.”

Staff writer Beatriz Valenzuela contributed to this report.