Sexuality, Gender & Relationships

Why do we love who we love? Why do we stay in unfulfilling relationships, and stray from rewarding ones? Is it ever a good idea to open a relationship? And why do some long-time couples crash and burn while others stay madly in love? Evolutionary biologist, author, and Executive Director of the world-renowned Kinsey Institute, Dr. Justin Garcia examines these questions and more in this conversation on modern mating.   

In this episode Dr. Garcia is joined by Dr. Christopher Walling, chair the Research Psychology program at CIIS, for an illuminating conversation on the science of love and sex. They discuss Dr. Garcia’s book The Intimate Animal, and the lifecycle of a romantic relationship, from the thrill of first attraction to the devotion that can last decades. Dr. Garcia reveals that the need for intimacy, even more than sex drive, is key to our species’ survival and flourishing. But therein lies the challenge. We evolved for social monogamy but not for sexual monogamy, yet these impulses are often at odds. Understanding this tension is the key to aligning our romantic choices with our true desires.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on March 12th 2026. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Desire on the Couch is a groundbreaking exhibition at CIIS that reexamines a century of debates over sexuality, desire, and identity—bringing rarely seen archival materials and unheard stories into public view.

Explore how CIIS’ Human Sexuality degrees empower students to create social change through research, theory, and advocacy.

The Department of Human Sexuality marks 10 years.

A powerful event centering Black erotic divinity, healing, and spiritual liberation.

In the context of non-monogamy, compersion or the emotion of positive empathy is understood as sharing our partner’s joy regarding their other intimate relationship or relationships. Drawing upon her seminal research with consensually non-monogamous individuals, author and mindful dating and relationship coach, Dr. Marie (two-un) Thouin, unravels the complexity of compersion in her recent book, What is Compersion?, the first ever book to offer a comprehensive model of compersion and a practical roadmap to cultivating it.

In this episode, Dr. Thouin is joined by Poarch Creek Two-Spirit Indigequeer activist, artist, sex therapist, and somacultural theorist Dr. Roger Kuhn in a conversation exploring compersion as a roadmap for radical love in monogamous and non-monogamous consensual relationships.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on August 8th, 2024. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

For over 40 years somatic sex educator Dr. Betty Martin has explored the nuances of consent. In her framework and book, The Wheel of Consent, Dr. Martin traces the fundamental roots of consent back to our childhood conditioning. As children, many are taught that to be “good” we must ignore our body’s discomfort and be compliant. As adults, this conditioning remains with us until we unlearn it. The implications of this approach to consent education extends beyond touch and intimate relationships. When we forget how to notice what we really want, we lose our inner compass. When we continue to go along with things we don’t feel are right, we lose our ability to speak up against injustice.

In this episode, Dr. Martin is joined by Poarch Creek Two-Spirit Indigiqueer soma-cultural sex therapist, sexuality educator, writer, activist, and musician Dr. Roger Kuhn for an empowering conversation on the psychology of consent. Drawing upon her life’s work and The Wheel of Consent, Dr. Martin shares deeply nuanced ways to practice consent as an agreement that brings integrity, responsibility, and empowerment into human interaction—starting with touch and relationships—and further expanding our understanding of consent to social issues of equality and justice.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on October 30th, 2024. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Last fall, Human Sexuality doctoral students and faculty members presented two panels at the National Women's Studies Association (NWSA) meetings. 

A panel hosted by the Department of Human Sexuality gathered notable alumni from the Ph.D. program to discuss their change-making work and research.

Groundbreaking collection of essays reveals how Critical Sexuality Studies and Lavender Languages and Linguistics combine to analyze language use, sexuality and gender, and discourse on authority and power.

Decennial Kickoff Event: 
10 Years of Mindful Contribution to Critical Sexuality Studies
San Francisco, CA 

CIIS breaks ground with its new, one-of-a-kind M.S. in Critical Sexuality Studies

Associate Professor Christopher Walling receives the Gina Ogden Curatorial Scholarship for Integrative Approaches to Sex Research and Therapy from the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University

An interview with Drama Therapy alumna Grace Walcott about her documentary, “River of Life LGBTQ+”

What exactly is sexual attraction and what is it like to go through life not experiencing it? What does asexuality reveal about gender roles, romance and consent, and the pressures of society? In her latest book, Ace, journalist Angela Chen set out to further understand her own asexuality by examining the perspectives of a diverse group of asexual people.

In this episode, Angela is joined by journalist Sabrina Imbler for a conversation about what it means to be asexual in a world that’s obsessed with sexual attraction, and what the ace perspective can teach all of us about desire and identity.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on October 29, 2020. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Feminists have long challenged the ways in which men tend to sexualize women.  But pioneering activist, biologist, and trans woman Julia Serano argues that sexualization is a far more pervasive problem—it’s something that we all do to other people, often without being aware of it. 

In her latest book, Sexed Up: How Society Sexualizes Us, and How We Can Fight Back, Julia examines how the stereotypes of sexualization push minorities farther into the margins, and how even the privileged are policed from transgressing, or they also become targets.

In this episode, Julia is joined in a conversation with writer and editor Abeni Jones that exposes the harmful ways we are all sexualized and shares ways of seeking a bold path for resistance.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on July 21st, 2022. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Modern-day sexual ethics has held that “anything goes” when it comes to sex—if everyone says yes and does so enthusiastically. So why, even when consent has been ascertained, are so many of our sexual experiences filled with frustration, disappointment, even shame? In her book Rethinking Sex, reporter and Washington Post columnist Christine Emba calls for a more humane philosophy, one that starts with consent but accounts for the very real emotional, mental, social, and political implications of sex.

In this episode, Christine is joined in a conversation with CIIS Professor and Program Chair of the department of Human Sexuality Michelle Marzullo that invites us to reimagine sexual intimacy, and in turn, attain greater affirmation, fulfillment, and satisfaction for ourselves.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on May 11th, 2022. A transcript is available below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Disability is often described as a tragedy, a crisis, or an aberration even though 1 in 5 people worldwide have or will have a disability. Why is this common human experience rendered exceptional? Disability studies scholar Jennifer Natalya Fink argues that this originates in our families.

Weaving together stories of members of her own family with socio-historical research, in her latest book, All Our Families, Jennifer illustrates how the eradication of disabled people from family narratives is rooted in racist, misogynistic, and antisemitic sorting systems inherited from Nazis. Inspired by queer and critical race theory, Jennifer calls for a lineage of disability: a reclamation of disability as a history, a culture, and an identity.

In this episode, autistic Mestiza, critical educator, and disability studies scholar-activist Sara M. Acevedo joins Jennifer for a conversation that challenges us to reconnect disability within the family as a means of repair toward a more inclusive and flexible structure of care and community.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on April 7th, 2022. Access the transcript below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Renowned certified Gottman therapist and author Elizabeth Earnshaw offers a culturally tuned-in, LGBTQIA+ friendly approach, and an accessible guide to healing relationships and creating enduring intimacy for unmarried and married couples in her work and writing.

In her latest book, I Want This to Work, Elizabeth shares her expertise and presents for today’s generation the most effective and proven steps for relationship success. In this episode, CIIS professor and licensed psychologist Margaret Boucher joins Elizabeth for a conversation about how to navigate difficult relationship issues to create stronger and more resilient partnerships.

This episode was recorded during a live online event on December 9th, 2021. Access the transcript below.

You can watch a recording of this episode and many more episodes on the CIIS Public Programs YouTube Channel.

Scholars in queer linguistics, language, and sexuality share about their experience going to the Lavender Language conferences of the past

A wide-ranging discussion with the Human Sexuality Ph.D. program's new faculty member

The CIIS Dean offers insight into her new book on infidelity and clinical approaches that are helpful for a broad range of contexts and people.

Elisabeth Bolaza, Human Sexuality Ph.D. student, presented on Oppressing Birth: A Discussion of Systematic Violence and Denial of Rights

Helping LGBTQ individuals and couples find culturally-competent and experienced therapists 

A listing of incredible work accomplished during the 2015-2016 academic year 

Read the full article, featuring a short interview with program founder and CIIS Professor Gil Herdt