University of Mississippi Offers New Program in Sexuality Studies

The University of Mississippi’s Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies is offering a new program in sexuality studies this fall. According to the center, “sexuality studies explore the social construction of sexuality, ways in which society shapes and determines its meanings, as well as the differences that exist within various cultures and moments in history.”

Jaime Harker, an associate professor of English and interim director of the Center for Women and Gender Studies stated that “it became clear that students needed more opportunities to be educated about issues of sexuality. As faculty, we decided that setting up an academic program, where students could learn and ask questions in a structured environment, was one way to address this larger need for education.”

Dr. Harker is a summa cum laude graduate of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. She earned a master’s degree at BYU and a Ph.D. in English at Temple University in Philadelphia.

The University of Mississippi is the first institution of higher education in the state to offer a sexuality emphasis in a gender studies minor program. The Isom Center, named after the university’s first woman faculty member, was established in 1981 to address the changing roles and expectations of women students, faculty, and staff.