Cape Breton University is launching Let’s Talk About Sex, a visiting lecture series, on Friday, November 26 at 1:30pm. This series, which will include five lectures and run until April, is a multidisciplinary discussion on topics ranging from “How and Why Should Relationship Researchers Study Sex”, to “Selling Sex”. The lecture series is free and open to the public, with all talks taking place in room CE265.
“The lecture series is aimed at students, faculty, staff and the general public, and we encourage all to attend,” says Dr. Scott Stewart, Professor of Philosophy, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, CBU. “All will benefit from the series by being exposed to current research by professors from a wide variety of universities who bring with them a variety of perspectives.”
The first lecturer is Dr. Laurie Shrage, director of Women’s Studies and Professor of Philisophy at Florida International University (FIU). Her discussion is titled “Anatomy is Not Destiny: Sexual Orientation and Gender Variance” and will consider whether the idea of a ‘sexual orientation’, as currently conceived by professionals and laypersons, can encompass the full range of our sex identities and sexualities that exist.
Dr. Shrage is the author of Abortion and Social Responsibility: Depolarizing the Debate (Oxford 2003), and Moral Dilemmas of Feminism: Prostitution, Adultery, and Abortion (Routledge 1994). Much of her work investigates how social resistance to sexual norms relates to feminist political practice.
The lecture series in an annual highlight of academic events on campus. Each year, a different theme gives attendees the opportunity to interpret and discuss the research findings of leading academics. Last year’s theme was food, and presenters gave lectures on topics such as the philosophy of the Slow Food Movement and historical trends in our use of seafood.
