The University of Connecticut has asked a law professor to take a leave of absence, hoping to cool down campus chatter over a steamy film clip he screened in class.

The professor, Robert L. Birmingham, showed a segment from the film Really, Really Pimpin’ in the South that features an interview with a pimp who was convicted in a court case Mr. Birmingham’s class was studying. According to The Hartford Courant, after the interview, the film cuts to a dancing woman clad only in a thong. On that footage, Mr. Birmingham hit the pause button.

The freeze-frame put some students on edge, the newspaper reported.

Later in the day, students in Mr. Birmingham’s class on the Nuremburg trials asked to see the same film clip. He obliged.

Mr. Birmingham has agreed to sit out the rest of the semester. However, his lawyer said the professor did not mean to press pause on the image of the bethonged woman.

Discussing the case, the university’s law dean, Jeremy Paul, used the familiar language of pitting academic freedom against students’ security.

“We want a law school where people are free to express their ideas,” Mr. Paul said, according to the Courant. “But we also want a place where each student, regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation, feels safe and welcome.” —John Gravois