The workshop aims to provide a platform for interdisciplinary discourse and critical reflections on the various dimensions of Sex Education, including its subjectivities, materialities, and differences. Sex Education is subject to ongoing heated and often morally charged social and political debates and an arena of the “Sexual Antinomies in Late Modernity” (Jackson/Scott 2004): It is often perceived either as instrument for indoctrination or as necessary tool for sexual autonomy. Beyond such moralizing discourses, the forthcoming workshop is interested in a perspective on sexuality as a cultural product of knowledge processes: We understand Sex Education (1) as a key cultural field in which knowledge about sexuality, and thus “sexuality” itself, is re-produced, and (2) in a broad sense: In addition to institutionalized educational programs (e. g. in schools or as offered by NGOs or sexual health programs), we include all phenomena that convey sexual knowledge in their self-understanding (including but not limited to areas such as tantra, sexual assistance, …), or that can be analyzed as ‘educational’ in a wider sense (such as literature, art, porn, social media, …).

Read the full Call for Papers here.

The workshop is organized by Tobias Boll, Miriam Brunnengräber, and Maik Wiesen.

The workshop is hosted by the collaborative research center Studies in Human Differentiation (funded by German Research Foundation) and co-funded by the Georg Forster Forum.

The Stiftungshaus (engl. „Foundation house“) is a newly built meeting place on the JGU campus that was opened in 2023. The modern and multifunctional building serves as an international guest house and seminar center on campus. The Stiftungshaus is located on Wittichweg and is directly connected to the streetcar line that links the campus with the city center. From the streetcar stop „Friedrich-von-Pfeiffer-Weg“ (tram lines 51, 53, 59) it is only one minute to the event building. The seminar room is located on the ground floor and is accessible for wheelchair users.

The exact address of the Stiftungshaus is Johann-Friedrich-von-Pfeiffer-Weg 2, 55128 Mainz.
The workshop will take place in room 00 106 (ground floor, to the left after the entrance).

The opening keynote by Jack Halberstam and the evening reception on the first day of the conference will take place at the Hochschule für Musik (School of Music) on the JGU campus. The building is very close to the Stiftungshaus and only a few minutes‘ walk away. For the keynote we have the opportunity to use the Red Hall, one of the schools‘ central concert halls, which is located in the heart of the building. The evening reception on Thursday will take place in the courtyard, weather permitting. The rooms are also accessible for wheelchair users.

The exact address of the School of Music is Jakob-Welder-Weg 28, 55128 Mainz.