SexInfo at UCSB

Welcome! This page is intended as a resource for University of California Santa Barbara students to learn about and get involved with the work we do at SexInfo. We invite UCSB students to attend events, participate in ongoing projects, and engage in the club or courses directly involved with our collective. Our work is dedicated to the advancement of resources pertaining to all topics under the umbrella of gender and sex, and we hope to gain more voices to be part of our growing community. Below is a list of the various ways that UCSB students can engage in work pertaining to gender and sexual health advocacy.

How to get Involved with SexInfo

Attend and Participate in Programs, Projects, and Events

Check here to see past, current, and future projects and events hosted by SexInfo. Contact us to learn more about participating in outreach projects and attending events.

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About Kink with Owen Renert
Effective Communication Workshop 2/18
Valentine Day Flyer
COVID-19 Vaccine Toy Raffle
Sexy Game Night
Spring Sexpert Panel
*Creating a Culture of Consent
#RelationshipGoals: Dynamics of Healthy Relationships
Valentine's Day Grams
A Sexpert Tell-All Panel
Pandemic "Protection" Program
Sex Toys for Democracy
Sex Week
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About Kink with Owen Renert
Effective Communication Workshop 2/18
Valentine Day Flyer
COVID-19 Vaccine Toy Raffle
Sexy Game Night
Spring Sexpert Panel
*Creating a Culture of Consent
#RelationshipGoals: Dynamics of Healthy Relationships
Valentine's Day Grams
A Sexpert Tell-All Panel
Pandemic "Protection" Program
Sex Toys for Democracy
Sex Week
previous arrow
next arrow

Join SexInfo OnCampus Club! 

SexInfo OnCampus is a club dedicated to sex-positive sex education! We hold weekly discussions on sex, love, and romance. We hold quarterly events, such as Sex Trivia Night, Open Mics and Art Shows. SexInfo OnCampus is dedicated to diversity, inclusivity, and accessibility. 
To join, click the link below. 

Link to shoreline: https://shoreline.ucsb.edu/SexInfo/club_signup

Note: The link is only currently only accessible to members, students, or faculty from UCSB (University of California- Santa Barbara). 

Sex, Gender, and Sexuality courses at UCSB

Anthropology

*ANTH 125. Anthropology of Gender

(4) STAFF

Prerequisite: Not open to freshmen.

The cross-cultural study of gender from a feminist perspective. Topics may include gender and nature, gender and the division of labor, gender and kinship, gender and subjectivity, gender and sexuality, gender and the state, gender and knowledge/discourse.

Offered: M21, F20, M20, S20

ANTH 128. The Archaeology of Gender

(4) VANDERWARKER

Prerequisite: Anthropology 3

Enrollment Comments: Designed for majors. Quarters usually offered: Winter, Spring.

The development of gender as a research focus in archaeology over the past several decades. Examine case studies that consider the identification and understanding of past gender relations, specifically how gender relations are materialized in the archaeological record.

Not offered recently, according to UCSB course enrollment history

ANTH 153S. The Evolution of Human Sexuality

(4) STAFF

Prerequisite: Anthropology 5

Recommended Preparation: Anthropology 7.

Exploration of the psychological mechanism–adaptations–that underpin human sexual feeling, thought, and action. Emphasis on male-female differences, “engineering” analyses, the comparative method as sources of information about adaptive design. Includes study of sexual arousal, attractiveness, jealousy, and competition.

Not offered recently, according to UCSB course enrollment history

*ANTH 176. Representations of Sexuality in Modern Japan

(4) FRUHSTUCK

Prerequisite: Upper Division Standing.

Enrollment Comments: Same course as History 188S and Japanese 162.

The main ideologies guiding the establishment of various representations of sexuality from prewar scientific writings to contemporary popular culture.

Offered: W20

*ANTH 177AB. Human Reproduction Ecology and Endocrinology

(4) STAFF

Prerequisite: Upper-division standing

Recommended Preparation: Anthropology 5 or 7

Regulation of reproductive function by diet, energy balance, lactation, and social context. The role of hormones in the regulation of human reproduction, behavior, and physiology. Hormonal changes with parenting and pregnancy in men and women.

Offered: W21

Asian American Studies

*AS AM 8. Introduction to Asian American Gender and Sexuality

(4) FUJINO

Introduction of gendered analysis and intersectionality in the study of Asian Americans from sociological, psychological, and historical perspectives. Major themes include social construction of femininities and masculinities, family formation, productive and reproductive labor, global capitalism, violence regulating gender and sexuality.

Offered: S21

AS AM 135. Asian Pacific American Queer Issues

(4) STAFF

Prerequisite: Sophomore standing or higher.

Recommended Preparation: a prior course in Asian American studies.

Enrollment Comments: Open to non-majors. Designed for majors.

An interdisciplinary survey of the histories, experiences, and identities of Asian Pacific American gays, lesbians, and bisexuals; coming out issues, family and community pressures, and socio-political representation in Asian Pacific American communities and in the mainstream gay movement.

Not offered recently, according to UCSB course enrollment history

AS AM 138. Asian American Sexualities

(4) STAFF

Prerequisite: Sophomore standing or higher.

Recommended Preparation: A prior course in Asian American Studies.

Enrollment Comments: Open to non-majors.

Examines the critical lens of sexuality in studying Asian American culture, history, and politics. Survey of interdisciplinary texts on concepts of sexuality in Asia and America, constructions of sexual difference, denaturalizing heterosexuality and queer theory.

Not offered recently, according to UCSB course enrollment history

Black Studies

*BL ST 106. Women and Politics of the Body

(4) BANKS, TINSLEY

Prerequisite: Upper-division standing.

Examines the relationship between race and gender in the construction of bodily politics that include perceptions of beauty and femininity. In understanding how race and gender matter in conceptualizations of beauty, this course centers Black women’s bodies as important sites of resistance.

Offered: F20, S20

*BL ST 125. Queer Black Studies

(4) STRONGMAN, TINSLEY, WOOTEN

Prerequisite: Upper-division standing.

An exploration of the intersection of Black Studies and Queer Studies from various theoretical, literary, historical, and multi-media perspectives. Cultural producers studied include: Audre Lorde, Marlon Riggs, Bayard Rustin, and Bruce Nugent.

Offered: F20, M20, S20

BL ST 133. Gender and Sexuality in Black Studies

(4) BANKS,STRONGMAN,TINSLEY,WOOTEN

Prerequisite: Upper-division standing.

Examines the intersection of gender, sexuality, race, and class in creating disadvantage and advantage. In examining how racism, sexism, and heterosexism shape Black life chances in a 21st century context, this course focuses on systems of oppression that exist within and outside Black communities.

Not offered recently, according to UCSB course enrollment history

Chicana and Chicano Studies

CH ST 154. Gender and Sexuality in the Americas

(4) HERNANDEZ

Prerequisite: Departmental approval required to finalize registration.

Examines cultural, social, political and representational aspects of gender and sexuality across the Americas. Organized around various themes–control and repression; the politics and culture of resistance; and sexual transgression as affirmation of marginalized identities–this course challenges conceptions of gender and sexuality across the Americas. Covering topics ranging from normative sexuality, transgender expression, gay sexuality, and lesbian expression, the course is designed to examine developments in gender and sexuality within the U.S. and across the Americas.

Not offered recently, according to UCSB course enrollment history

Feminist Studies

FEMST 117C. Women, The Family, and Sexuality in the Middle Ages

(4) STAFF

Prerequisite: History 4B or upper-division standing.

Enrollment Comments: Not open for credit to students who have completed History 117C. Same course as History 117C and Medieval Studies 100A.

Family structure; perceptions and ideals of intimate and familial relations; status, perceptions, and experiences of women in Western Europe c. 400-1400 a.d. Special attention on social, political, and religious contexts.

Not offered recently, according to UCSB course enrollment history

FEMST 124A. Women, gender and Sexuality in Europe, 1750-1914.

(4) RAPPAPORT

Prerequisite: History 2C or 4C or Upper Division Standing.

Enrollment Comments: Same course as History 124A.

The roles of women, gender, and sexuality in eighteenth and nineteenth century Europe. Exploration of the nature of women and revolution: religious, legal, scientific and popular conceptions of gender and sexuality; industrialization and family life, the rise of organized feminism.

No history in the course reserves

FEMST 131. The Politics of Reproduction and Reproductive Technologies

(4) OAKS

Prerequisite: Upper-division standing.

Enrollment Comments: Letter grade required for majors and minors.

Exploration of theoretical, popular, and political debates over reproductive technologies in terms of women’s power and choices. Investigation of how cultural and historical changes in reproductive practices influence ideas about nature, society, and progress. Examination of case studies on current controversies.

Not offered recently, according to UCSB course enrollment history

*FEMST 150. Sex, Love, and Romance

(4) RUPP

Enrollment Comments: Not open for credit to students who have completed Feminist Studies 150H.

An examination from historical and global perspectives of sex, love, desire, and intimate relationships in diverse cultures in the contemporary U.S.

Offered: Spring quarter 

FEMST 151AAZZ. Sexual Cultures

(4) MILLER-YOUNG, DASGUPTA

Prerequisite: Upper-division standing.

Enrollment Comments: Letter grade required for majors and minors. May be repeated provided letter designations are different.

Seminars focus on the political, social, and cultural dynamics of sexuality in modern society. Offerings may explore sexual representations, economies, laws, identities, performances, literatures, technologies, relationships, communities, and customs in the United States or abroad. Topics may vary.

Not offered recently, according to UCSB course enrollment history

FEMST 160. Sapphistries

(4) RUPP

A global exploration of female same-sex sexuality, from the historical Sappho grhough sapphists, roaring firsl, romantic friends, and female husbands, to contemporary lesbians. Considers lives and representations of women who desire and love other women.

Not offered recently, according to UCSB course enrollment history

*FEMST 161. The Social Construction of Sexuality

(4) BARVOSA

Recommended Preparation: upper-division standing or one prior course in feminist studies.

Enrollment Comments: Letter grade required for majors and minors.

This course explores how sexuality is shaped, controlled, and defined by social and cultural forces in England and the U.S. By using historical and literary sources, we will examine the variable understanding of human sexuality in the last two centuries.

Offered: Fall quarter 

*FEMST 162. Queer Theory

(4) TYBURCZY, RICHARDSON

Prerequisite: FEMST 80 or instructor approval.

Enrollment Comments: Letter grade required for majors and minors.

Introduces some of the key authors and texts in queer theory; assesses its relationship to feminist theory, sexuality studies, and queer activism; explores its critiques of normative models of sex, gender, and sexuality; and examines the bases for criticism of it as androcentric, Eurocentric, overly intellectual, and impractical.

Offered: Winter quarter 

*FEMST 163. Trans Studies

(4) RICHARDSON, DASGUPTA

Prerequisite: Feminist Studies 80

Special topics course focused on key issues and histories of knowledge in trans studies.

Offered: S21

FAMST 154PG. Topics in Film and Popular Culture 

(4) PENLEY

Prerequisite: FAMST 46 or 70 or junior status or consent of instructor.

The course approaches pornography as a major instance of film and popular culture, from the pre-history and history of cinema and video to the Internet and virtual worlds. Course content augmented by guest lectures from the adult industry and academia.

No data in UCSB course enrollment history

Geography

*GEOG 6. Sex, Drugs, & Geography

(4) CASSELS

Enrollment Comments: Quarters usually offered: Spring.

An examination of the interrelationships between people, place, and the environment as they apply to contemporary public health challenges in our society. Case studies such as HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, and the opioid epidemic, will be used to illustrate social, spatial, and temporal patterns of health.

Offered: Spring quarter 

Global Studies

*GLOBL 118. Gender Violence and Human Rights

(4) BRYSK

Prerequisite: Upper-division standing.

Enrollment Comments: Designed for majors.

Explores drivers, norms, patterns, and policy responses to gender-based violence in global perspective. How does “women’s rights as human rights” improve our understanding of this global problem? What are the challenges of responding to human rights abuse by non-state actors?

Offered: M21 

GLOBL 162. Sexuality and Globalization

(4) AMAR

Enrollment Comments: Designed for majors.

Examines globalizing cultural politics of sexuality through literature, popular media, subaltern performances, and press discourse from Global South; engages questions of “universalized” LGBTQ identities, Islamic law and sexual rights, militarized masculinities, recognition of transexualities, and queer, anti-racist and feminist globalisms.

Offered: F21, S21

GLOBL 168. Global Policing of Sex and Drugs

(4) AMAR

Repeat Comments: Previously LawSo 166

Examines the global politics and policies driving police “wars” against phenomena such as narcotrafficking, sex tourism, prostitution, money laundering, racialized labor migration, “queer” border-crossers.

Not offered recently, according to UCSB course enrollment history

History

*HIST 101G. Comparative Histories of Same-Sex Practices and Gender Variance

(4) MIESCHER

Prerequisite: Previous Course in History or Upper Division Standing

Exploration of same-sex intimacies and gender variance in ancient Greek, pre-modern Oceania, medieval Europe, Tokugawa Japan, modern Africa, and North America. Introduction to the theoretical questions in the study of sexuality and how scholars have used these tools.

Offered: W20

*HIST 117C. Women, The Family, and Sexuality in the Middle Ages

(4) FARMER

Prerequisite: History 4B or upper-division standing.

Enrollment Comments: Same course as Feminist Studies 117C and Medieval Studies 100A.

Family structure; perceptions and ideals of intimate and familial relations; status, perceptions, and experiences of women in Western Europe c. 400-1400 A.D. Special attention on social, political, and religious contexts.

Offered: M21

HIST 124A. Women, Gender, and Sexuality in Europe, 1750-1914

(4) RAPPAPORT

Prerequisite: History 2C or 4C or Upper Division Standing.

Enrollment Comments: Same course as Feminist Studies 124A.

The roles of women, gender, and sexuality in eighteenth and nineteenth century Europe. Exploration of the nature of women and revolution: religious, legal, scientific, and popular conceptions of gender and sexuality; industrialization and family life, the rise of organized feminism.

Not offered recently, according to UCSB course enrollment history

*HIST 124B. Women, Gender, and Sexuality in Europe, 1914-Present

(4) RAPPAPORT

Prerequisite: History 2C or 4C or upper-division standing.

Enrollment Comments: Same course as Women’s Studies 124B.

The relationship between war, revolution, fascism, socialism, feminism, and consumerism and the history of the family, gender, and sexual identities in the twentieth century.

Offered: M20

HIST 124C. Sex, Gender, and Settler Colonialism

(4) HENDERSON, SEIKALY

Prerequisite: Upper Division Standing

Recommended Preparation: History 2C or 4C

Examines how sex and gender legitimized the process of settler colonial rule across the globe. Students interrogate the ways that ideas about sex and gender privileged particular selves at the expense of others in the Americas, Africa, Asia, and the Pacific. Pays particular attention to the economic, political, and cultural structures of colonial rule that settlers established to remove and erase Indigenous peoples and histories. Also consider how those dispossessed, disenfranchised and discriminated against resisted settler-colonial rule into the twenty-first-century world.

Not offered recently, according to UCSB course enrollment history

HIST 146W. Women and Gender in Middle Eastern History

(4) STAFF

Prerequisite: History 46 or upper-division standing.

A social history of women in the Middle East from the nineteenth century to the present. Course investigates women’s diverse and rapidly changing political, economical, and social roles in the region emphasizing contemporary feminist and Islamic movements.

Not offered recently, according to UCSB course enrollment history

Linguistics

*LING 132. Language, Gender, and Sexuality

(4) ZIMMAN

The study of language as a resource for the production of gender and sexuality across cultures. Topics include: gender differentiation in language structure and use; intragender variation; language and discrimination; linguistic ideologies; language and identity.

Offered: S21, M20

Philosophy

*PHIL 128. Feminist Philosophy

(4) STAFF

Prerequisite: Philosophy 100A; or, two prior courses in philosophy.

In this course, we examine philosophical approaches to feminism and feminist issues. Topics covered may include inequality in the workplace and in family structures; global feminism; objectification; pornography; and prostitution.

Offered: M20

Psychology

*PSY 146. Human Mating Psychology

(4) RONEY

Prerequisite: Open to Psychological & Brain Sciences, Biopsychology, and Interdisciplinary Studies majors only.

Recommended Preparation: Psychology 155

Enrollment Comments: PSY 160JR is the former number of PSY 146. Students who have completed PSY 160JR with a C- or below may take PSY 146 as a legal repeat.

Repeat Comments: PSY 146 is a legal repeat of PSY 160JR.

An overview of theory and research on the design features of brain mechanisms that regulate human mating psychology. This class takes an evolutionary and interdisciplinary approach to human mating. Topics may include: sex differences in mate preferences, hormonal correlates of sexuality, determinants of physical attractiveness, and evidence for the existence of human pheromones.

Offered: M21, S21, M20

*PSY 149. Close Relationships

(4) COLLINS, GABLE

Prerequisite: Open to Psychological & Brain Sciences, Biopsychology, and Interdisciplinary Studies majors only.

Recommended Preparation: PSY 102

Enrollment Comments: PSY 160NC is the former number of PSY 149. Students who have completed PSY 160NC with a C- or below may take PSY 149 as a legal repeat.

Repeat Comments: PSY 149 is a legal repeat of PSY 160NC.

An overview of theory and research relevant to cognitive, affective, and motivational processes in adult intimate relationships. Topics may include: attachment, love, commitment, intimacy, equity, social cognition, social support, and the link between relationships and health.`

Offered: Spring, summer 

Religious Studies

*RG ST 110L. LGBT Religious History: Queering the Spirit

(4) PEREZ

Prerequisite: Upper division standing.

Examines religion as experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender/transsexual people. Adopts a comparative historical perspective in considering the multiplicity of LGBT religious identities that have existed and continue to thrive around the world. Also traces the emergence of gender categories and norms in a range of different societies. Readings include autobiographical, anthropological, sociological, and theological sources. Special attention is paid to traditions in which LGBT people have been privileged as ritual specialists and community leaders.

Offered: F21

*RG ST 162I. Desire, Sex, and Romance in Traditions of India

(4) ELISON

Prerequisite: Upper Division standing and one course from the following: RGST 19, 20, 140D, 158C, 159 G-H-J-K-L-M-N-O, 160 A, 161D, 169 or equivalent; or Instructor approval.

Enrollment Comments: Cross listed with C LIT 162I

Explores questions of love and sex across two thousand years of Indian religious thought. The reading list includes some of the most famous voices in South Asian literary history. We will tour various genres: moral teachings, epic narrative, drama, devotional and mystical poetry, modern fiction. Yes, we will read the Kama Sutra, and yes, there will be Bollywood films.

Offered: F20

Sociology

SOC 150. Love, Sex and Religion

(4) FRIEDLAND

Course will examine the sociological, historical and phenomenological constitution of sexuality and love, in order to position the emergence of a new erotic formation among young people and the religious responses to it on the other.

Not offered recently, according to UCSB course enrollment history

*SOC 152A. Sociology of Human Sexuality

(4) J.D. BALDWIN, J.I. BALDWIN

This course covers all the main aspects of human sexuality-anatomy, sexual response, pregnancy, sexual diseases including HIV, birth control, abortion, learning to be sexual, sexual orientation, gender differences, sex therapy and enrichment, love, and related sociological issues.

Offered: Fall, Winter, Spring, some summers 

*SOC 154A. Sociology of the Families

(4) CAST

Prerequisite: Upper-division standing.

Enrollment Comments: Same course as Feminist Studies 154A.

A course on US families and patterns of household organization. Topics may include mate selection, parenthood, marriage, division of labor, divorce, remarriage, and aging. Attention to race, class, gender, and sexual orientation variation in contemporary patterns in the life of today’s families.

Offered: S21

*SOC 154R. Sociology of Reproduction

(4) LUNA

Prerequisite: Upper-division standing.

Provides an examination of reproduction through economic, legal and political lenses. Emphasis on how statuses such as race, class, gender, sexuality and ability influence people’s reproductive possibilities. Primarily focuses on the US but will expose students to global reproductive concerns.

Offered: F20

SOC 159S. Sociology and Sexual Politics

(4) STAFF

Prerequisite: Upper-division standing.

Recent approaches to the study of sexuality through the work of gay and lesbian scholars, social historians, feminists, and discourse theorists. Emphasis on recent changes in sexuality, sexual suffering, and sexual politics. Topics vary with the instructor.

Not offered recently, according to UCSB course enrollment history

Resources 

If you have any additional questions, concerns, or suggestions related to our local work in Santa Barbara and presence on UCSB campus, we encourage you to reach out to us through the “contact us” feature.