In the midst of today’s renewed “sex wars,” how do we handle the sexually explicit and explosive? A discussion for those who teach at Brown and RISD.

Forty years ago, the 1982 Barnard Conference on Sexuality inspired Carole S. Vance’s classic book Pleasure and Danger and signaled the beginning of the “sex wars” fought among feminist scholars. Today, we seem to be in the midst of another round of “sex wars,” taking place both around and in the classroom itself, as teachers and students attempt to negotiate issues of provocation and well-being, challenge and cooperation, and affect and critique that emerge across a whole range of courses and that both impact and demand a response from queer as much as feminist perspectives. How can we teach material tied to “sex” today, as it intersects with other formations (race, class, ability, nation, history, violence, and so on)? How can we best handle the sexually “explicit” and “explosive” as these might variously appear across the disciplines (as “seen”/”obscene” or as written/written out, as scientifically distanced or as affectively dramatized, as historically remote or as seemingly immediate, as possibly titillating or as potentially traumatizing)? How should we then deal with the opportunities and risks of approaching sex and sexuality in the classroom necessarily defined by differences, diversities, and power dynamics?

This “LGBTQIA+ Thinking Initiative” workshop is designed to provide a space for participants actively to engage with these questions. While we will be spurred by an introduction (Lynne Joyrich, Professor, Modern Culture and Media) and brief opening reflections by members of the Brown community—Leslie Bostrom (Professor, Visual Arts), Denise Davis (Senior Lecturer, Gender and Sexuality Studies), Richard Kimberly Heck (Professor, Philosophy), Kevin Quashie (Professor, English), Iván Ramos (Assistant Professor, Theatre Arts and Performance Studies), and Harper Shalloe (PhD Candidate, Modern Culture and Media)—all attendees will be invited to participate in active discussion so that, together, we can consider and work through the issues.

Professors, instructional staff, and teaching graduate students at Brown and RISD are invited to attend. As this is a participatory workshop for those engaged in teaching, it is not available as an event for undergraduates. Registration required. Refreshments provided.

Event accessibility information: To bypass stairs, visitors may enter via the automatic doors at the rear of the building, where there is a wheelchair-accessible elevator.