Sexual Citizens: A Landmark Study of Sex, Power, and Assault on Campus

Participants : 
  • Jennifer Hirsch, Professor and Deputy Chair for Doctoral Studies, Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health; Co-Director, Columbia Population Research Center; Columbia University
  • Shamus Khan, Professor and Chair, Department of Sociology, Columbia University

with respondents:

  • Abdul El-Sayed, MD, DPhil, physician, epidemiologist, public health expert, and progressive activist
  • Kamaria B. Porter, Ph.D. Candidate, Center for the Study of Higher & Postsecondary Education; Research Assistant, Department of Sociology; University of Michigan
 
Event Date: 
February 6, 2020
Event Time: 
4:00pm to 6:00pm
Location: 
Rackham Amphitheatre
Event Accessibility : 
A ramp, leading to power doors, is located to the left of the stairs at the South (main) entrance. After entering through the power doors, go through the double doors where the East and West elevators are on the left and right sides of the lobby. The Amphitheatre is centrally located on the fourth floor. A wheelchair accessible entrance is located at the back of the Amphitheatre across the hall from the Assembly room. A gender neutral restroom is located on the third floor in the East wing of the building.
Event Tags: 
gender based violence
books
book
sexual harassment
sexual assault
faculty led programs

The fear of campus sexual assault has become an inextricable part of the college experience. But why is sexual assault such a common feature of college life? And what can be done to prevent it? Drawing on the Sexual Health Initiative to Foster Transformation (SHIFT) at Columbia University, the most comprehensive study of sexual assault on a campus to date, Jennifer S. Hirsch and Shamus Khan’s new book presents an entirely new framework that emphasizes sexual assault’s social roots, transcending current debates about consent, predators in a “hunting ground,” and the dangers of hooking up.

Based on years of research interviewing and observing college life―with students of different races, genders, sexual orientations, and socioeconomic backgrounds―Hirsch and Khan’s study reveals the social ecosystem that makes sexual assault so predictable, explaining how physical spaces, alcohol, peer groups, and cultural norms influence young people’s experiences and interpretations of both sex and sexual assault. 

Book sales and signing, courtesy of Literati Bookstore, will follow in the Assembly Hall.

Cosponsors: Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center (SAPAC), Departments of American Culture, Sociology, Women’s Studies, School of Education, CEW+ Frances and Sydney Lewis Visiting Leaders Fund