Journal of Homosexuality

Sexuality Studies in Higher Education: Past and Present

In the current political climate, sexuality studies programs are disappearing from U.S. institutions of higher education at an alarming rate, and content regarding gender and sexuality is being censored. We are using sexuality studies as the umbrella term for programs and course work that addresses human sexuality in its broadest terms or addresses narrower aspects of human sexuality including non-normative sexual practices, gender identities and expressions, or LGBTQ+ studies. The few programs in higher education that address human sexuality have not been systematically studied, and as these programs are under attack, there is a great need to compile our collective wisdom to preserve the past and prepare for the future. We are particularly interested in manuscripts about the development or maintenance of sexuality studies academic programs, whether minors, certificate, majors or other types of degrees at the undergraduate or graduate level and the challenges of sexuality studies programs that were merged with other programs.

We are calling for abstracts that address any aspect of sexuality studies in colleges or universities, including but not limited to:

1. Histories of sexuality studies programs (whether stand-alone, focused on LGBTQ+/Queer Studies, or part of Women’s or Gender Studies). As more programs are being lost, their histories are also disappearing.
2. Experiences of working within sexuality studies education. We encourage personal stories, as long as they are also put into an academic and/or historical context. We are particularly interested in pedagogical issues, perceptions of administration and colleagues about teaching sexuality courses, and classroom dynamics.
3. Work done to integrate sexuality studies into major disciplines and academic programs in general.
4. Experiences of conducting sexuality studies research in any aspect of the research process: getting training and mentoring, funding, publication, reactions of colleagues, tenure and promotion, interdisciplinary collaborations, and so on.
5. Obstacles and/or facilitators to starting sexuality studies programs or launching sexuality courses.
6. Climate issues related to sexuality studies: How do these programs affect faculty, staff and students who are directly involved in them? How do they indirectly affect campus climate more broadly?
7. The challenges of working within merged programs, such as Women’s and Sexuality Studies or Gender and Sexuality Studies: what are the drawbacks and advantages of such mergers? What theoretical or methodological tensions arise, if any?
8. Papers that address the interdisciplinary versus multidisciplinary nature of sexuality studies: What are the challenges to launching and operating these programs? How do faculty agree on theoretical frameworks and methods to be taught in these programs? How do programs integrate the multiple ways that sexuality is interpreted and studied across disciplines?