This class is an examination into how and what we learn about sex. It will explore various ways that knowledge about sex is taught, conveyed, and discussed in various social and cultural settings, including but not limited to how sex is determined to be taught in schooling settings and/or in proximity to young people. Moreover, this class will examine how sexual activity is both a source of knowledge production and a vehicle through which knowledge about the world is expressed, including knowledges about race, gender, ability, health, power, family, and more. In other words, this class will examine how sex shows what is already known about the world, including the ways that such knowledges are allowed to be expressed in public or something that often remains unsaid. The class will cover various topics including: sexual identities and orientations, approaches to sexual activities, sexual health, sex in online spaces, sex work, kink and BDSM communities, debates around sex education in school, sexual violence, and sex through the lenses of race and ethnicity. |