Chris Jones will be presenting on the topic of sexual utopias at the last Gender Brown Bag discussion of the semester noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 28 in the Lincoln Room of the Memorial Union.

Jones is a professor in the philosophy and religious studies department. This fall semester he is currently teaching a class called Jews, Christians and Sex within the philosophy and religious studies department. This class studies different religions and their ideas and teachings on human sexuality. Jones said much of the class is based on taking ancient ideas and applying them to modern problems, such as rape culture and the gender stereotypes around hooking up.

From these lessons the students were given an assignment that Jones called an un-essay. Students could choose to do a classic essay or they could choose any other medium to express their idea of a sexual utopia. Jones described a sexual utopia. If anyone is interested in this class, contact Jones at [email protected].

Jones highlighted some exceptional projects by three of the students in the class. Shelby Schone, senior psychology major, wrote an essay on female genital mutilation that she will speak about. Sarah Leal, junior religious studies major, went the route of an un-essay and created a sculpture that focused on erasing boundaries of sexual identity. Cassidy Precht, sophomore religious studies and political science double major, did a mass media project about the representation of gender and sexual minorities in electoral systems. All three of these students will present their projects alongside Jones during the Gender Brown Bag discussion.

This presentation is the last in the series of Gender Brown Bag discussions hosted by the history department. Each semester they host about six to eight gender discussions that range a very long list of topics. These discussions usually take place at noon and as the name suggests you bring your own lunch.

Sexual Utopias is the last of the series of discussions for this semester but they did several other interesting topics earlier in the semester such as gender in gun culture, stereotypes of scrapbooking, gender in the law and women in WWII.

The Gender Brown Bag series is informative and due to the wide range of topics discussed, it is a great way for students to learn more about specialized topics within their future fields. Kelly Erby, professor in the history department, is currently in charge of organizing the Gender Brown Bag discussions, and wants to encourage more students to come to these discussions.

Sexual Utopias promises to be an interesting discussion but if some are unable to come to this discussion, the Gender Brown Bag discussions will continue in January 2019 for the spring semester. If you have any questions regarding the Gender Brown Bag discussion series, contact Kelly Erby at [email protected].