Introduction to Social Construction of Sexualities
In 1989 I joined Concordia as a Canada Research Fellow. The objective of the followship was to study Adult Prostitution in Canada. When asked by the Chair (John Drysdale) to develop a course related to my research, it struck me that expanding our knowledge of human sexuality would be a good first step to gaining a better understanding of prostitution. With Dr. Drysdale’s encouragement, I developed a course titled “Sex, Gender, and Sexuality”. The course went well except that several students arrived wanting to write papers about women and the labour force!! Since my goal was to expand our understanding of human sexualities through an empirically grounded social science perspective, I revised the title to better reflect the sexuality component. It became, “The Social Construction of Sexualities”. Topics included: the components of sexual expression, sexual beliefs and attitudes, theories and methodologies in sexuality research, cross-gender patterns, sexual orientations/behaviours, sexual coercion, sexuality education, and of course, sex work.
Over the years the course was taught by several of my colleagues, each one bringing something of themselves to the course and teaching it in their own way while respecting the basic tenants of the course. It is still in demand. What appears here is the course syllabus and reading list from the last semester I taught it (Winter 2016).
This course is an elective for the Major and the Minor in Interdisciplinary Studies in Sexuality at Concordia.
Major in Interdisciplinary Studies in Sexuality
Minor in Interdisciplinary Studies in Sexuality
You can visit the course at: Social Construction of Sexualities
Introduction to Sexual Labour and Society
In 2013 I created an on-line course entitled “Sex Work and Society” (later renamed Sexual Labour and Society”)—an historical and systematic analysis of sex work in Canada and the world. In addition to providing an overview of theoretical and methodological paradigms, the course was grounded in a comparative perspective that critically examined a variety of current events. It also provided me with a basis for passing on my research, insights, and perspectives to a new generation of scholars and advocates. Others have taught the course since I retired in 2017, including my colleague, Francine Tremblay, who adapted the course in a way that builds on her own expertise in the area.
In addition to keeping up with current events, Dr. Tremblay examines the relationship between sex workers and society and narrates sex workers’ struggle for recognition and surveys sex workers’ organisations in the United States, France, and the International Committee for Prostitutes’ Rights. “Making use of Stella—a Montréal community organisation by and for sex workers—we will proceed to an in-depth analysis of sex workers’ struggle for the recognition of their revenue-generating activity as legitimate labour. Together we will endeavour to make sense of why the moral debate keeps preventing safety and sex workers’ autonomy. Finally, we will look at the current landscape of mobilisation from sex worker advocates in Canada through the example of the Canadian Alliance for Sex Work Law Reform’s charter challenge to sex work-specific criminal offences” (course outline, Winter 2024).
You can visit the course at: Sexual Labour and Society
Check out my teaching Tips and Tools.