Goddard College has launched a new Sexuality Studies Concentration within the Undergraduate Studies Program. Sexuality Studies is an interdisciplinary field ranging from gender studies to biology, ethnic studies to public policy, and theology to economics.
Founded by Drs. H. “Herukhuti” Sharif Williams and Zelaika Hepworth Clarke, we are the only sexological program specifically designed to counter the Eurocentricity of the field. We welcome students of all backgrounds who wish to pursue critical studies in sex and sexuality in a pluralistic and socially just learning community.
Scholars, activists, and artists in the sexuality studies field consider the conditions that have shaped our understanding of sexuality, gender, power, oppression, values, and liberation.
“There are so many ways in which people experience social and structural violence against their bodies, sexualities, desires, and pleasures. The field of sexuality studies and sexology has not done enough to prepare sex-related professionals to resist, challenge and disrupt that violence because too often sexology programs only pay lip service, if at all, to anti-oppression as value. I wanted to create a program that would actually walk the talk and be a place where the radical and transformative work of decolonizing sexuality would be possible,” said faculty member Dr. H. “Herukhuti” Sharif Williams
Our Sexuality Studies Concentration, housed within the Undergraduate Studies Program, provides a unique opportunity to further integrate studies into an Individualized Bachelor of Arts, a Bachelor of Arts in Health Arts & Sciences, a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, or a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Socially Engaged Art.
Additionally, Goddard’s pioneering low-residency model allows students to study here, but live anywhere. They attend eight-day residencies and then return home for 16 weeks of independent work in close collaboration with faculty advisors.
“Adult learners in our undergraduate program will benefit from this new offering that supports their exploration of power dynamics in sex and sexuality, and the intersections of sex concepts, expectations, and practices in culture and inter-cultural interactions. It’s a unique and exciting offering that will serve serious scholars of politics, culture, identity, and interpersonal relations on a wide range of levels,” said Steve James, Interim Chief Academic Officer and Academic Dean.
The Sexuality Studies Concentration is now enrolling students. For more information, call 1-800-906-8312 or email admissions@goddard.edu.

Endorsements

“Finally. A new human sexuality education program has been developed that centers the experience of ALL people. The Goddard College Sexuality Studies program represents a paradigm shift in the way that sexuality studies has been addressed and offers academic, clinical, and educational communities an opportunity to experience a plurality of thought and practices. The program is bright and fresh because students are invited to reconceptualize sexuality through actively addressing decolonization over four semesters of matriculation. Because students will be able to graduate from this program with an enhanced knowledge based, increased capacity for addressing social justice issues, and improvement in clarity around their sexual worldview and philosophy, the program immediately ranks among the best formal sexuality educational resources available. Without reservation, I wholeheartedly endorse this program as one of most innovative and engaging educational treasures for the field of sexology.”
James C. Wadley, Ph.D., L.P.C. (PA & NJ), ACS, NCC, IMHF, CSTS
Chair of Counseling and Human Services Department at Lincoln University
Editor in Chief of the Journal of Black Sexuality and Relationships
Principal of the Association of Black Sexologists and Clinicians​
NBCC-International Mental Health Facilitator
AASECT Certified Supervisor of Sex Therapy
“As a student researching innovative sexuality studies programs I found very few exist. There is a great need for more educational resources, especially those that are courageous enough to focus on intersectional fields of study related to social justice and sexuality. So glad Goddard is launching this program!! As a teenager my grandmother marched at the White House for women’s suffrage. As a young parent my mother marched down the same avenue for Women’s Strike for Peace. As a teenager myself, my mother took me to the 1963 I Have A Dream March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. I was born into the crucible of the civil rights movement in Washington, DC and learned early on the differences between racial prejudice, systemic injustice and white privilege/supremacy, although it took years of adulthood to be able to speak about and understand it all. After I returned to DC from college I became a part of the women’s movement, which led to me falling in love with a woman and developing a life-long interest in sexuality education as a means of liberation and creativity for everyone. I have been a grassroots sexuality educator all my life and a proud unionized adjunct professor of interdisciplinary sexualities for more than the last decade at my local community college. Goddard was one of the colleges I aspired to go to as a youth. Although I never made it there, my books now have and I am very proud. In the 90s I co-founded BiNet USA and co-edited, with Lani Ka’ahumanu, the groundbreaking anthology, Bi Any Other Name: Bisexual People Speak Out. This all helped put the “B” in LGBTQ. I co-edited another anthology on bisexuality and religion with Goddard professor Dr. H.Sharif (Herukhuti) Williams; Sexuality, Religion and The Sacred: Bisexual, Pansexual and Polysexual Perspectives. My own doctoral work and subsequent research have focused on intersections between therapy, energy healing and sex work, from a queer feminist focus. The Loraine Hutchins Collection represents more than my bibliography.”
Dr. Loraine Hutchins, PhD
Adjunct Professor, Montgomery College
Co-Editor, Bi Any Other Name: Bisexual People Speak Out
Co-Editor, Sexuality, Spirituality, and The Sacred: Bisexual, Pansexual, and Polysexual Perspectives
Co-Founder, The Alliance of Multi-Cultural Bisexuals (AMBi)
Co-Founder, BiNet USA
“The Undergraduate Programs Concentration in Sexuality Studies at Goddard College is a thorough, comprehensive, important and contribution to the field. It covers the major issues of importance in sexuality education, including attitudes, values, knowledge, communication skills, world views, and philosophies. There are essential opportunities for students to examine and reflect on their own self history, including their body, mind, spirit, and soul in light of their own social identity of race, ethnicity, gender, class, abilities, and religion. I heartily endorse this new and inclusive undergraduate program.”
William R. Stayton, MDiv, ThD, PhD
Professor Emeritus / Former Director
Center for Human Sexuality Studies
Widener University, Chester, PA
“The plans for Goddard College’s Sexuality Studies concentration are very impressive, especially with its social justice and ecological framework combined with a focus on exploration of students’ sexual worldview. Experiencing a Sexual Attitudes Reassessment (SAR) process will contribute a great deal to students ability to examine and expand, as warranted, their worldview to incorporate a broad range of sexual lifestyles and behaviors. Having competency in critical analysis of gender and sexuality will advance students’ abilities as lifelong learners in this core area of human life, personally and as citizens of our nation.”
Betsy Crane, Ph.D.
Professor
Center for Human Sexuality Studies
Widener University, Chester, PA