Here we list events organised or involving members of the Sexual Knowledge unit members.
- This event has passed.
The Sex and History Project: talking sexuality, gender and identity with objects from the past – LGBTQ+ Soc event for LGBT History Month
26th February 2016 @ 18:30 - 19:30
Free
Our unit director Dr Jen Grove will be discussing Sex and History, a community and outreach project which uses historical artefacts to get people of all ages – and especially young people – talking more easily about issues around sex, gender and relationships today. What material can help us to safely discuss LGBTQ+ in the classroom, the museum and elsewhere? See the full abstract below.
Organised by Exeter LGBTQ+ Soc at University of Exeter.
Free but please register your attendance on the Facebook event or by emailing lgbt@ex.ac.uk
Abstract
Sex and History is a long-running public engagement and community project at the University of Exeter which uses artefacts from past cultures to get people of all ages – and especially young people – talking more easily about issues to do with sex and gender. The project has worked with museums, colleges, schools and youth groups to bring get young people engaging with historical objects from ancient Greece to 19th century Japan as a way of thinking through contemporary issues that matter to them. Activities have included film production and teaching packs for Sex and Relationships Education in school. While the discussions inspired by the objects have been wide-ranging, we would like to further develop our resources which encourage all participants to think about sexual and gender identity and diversity.
This interactive workshop will ask the audience to discuss and give feedback on which objects from the past might be used in discussing LGBTQ+ identities with young people. Are certain objects more suitable for certain settings – in the classroom, in the museum etc.? What issues are there in using objects from different cultures and time periods which may have different definitions of sexual behaviour and relationships from our own? What sort of role models of LGBTQ+ people can we find in historical objects? Do we need to see positive images from history in order to consider the sort of society we would like to see now? Or can the absence of sexual and gender diversity in museums and collections be useful for getting people to think about heteronormativity and what it means today?