THIS EVENT IS CANCELED

A Public Lecture Sponsored by the Department of Sociology:

Amy Schalet, Associate Professor of Sociology at The University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Why We Make Teenage Sexuality a Problem and How to Change That

Abstract: Well into the 21^st century, the sexuality and love lives of American adolescents remain a highly contested arena of social life—in the privacy of the bedroom and in the public domain of policymaking.  In her award-wining book, Not Under My Roof: Parents, Teens and the Culture of Sex, Amy Schalet illuminates the cultural and political forces that make teenage sex into a multi-faceted drama in the U.S.  Through international comparative research in the Netherlands, where parents, educators, and policymakers “normalize” teenage sexuality, Schalet illuminates how the processes “dramatizing” teenage sex and love in the U.S. are tied to how we think about the nature of freedom, individualism, and control.  After sharing highlights from her study, Schalet will discuss audiences’ responses to the research, gleaned from many years of public engagement—which included over 40 presentations for non-academic audiences and opinion editorials for outlets such the New York Times and Washington Post.  Audience responses demonstrate that while it is a powerfully constraining force, culture is far from destiny: Across the U.S., families, educators, clinicians, and young men and women are engaging in innovative cultural work to make sexuality and love more positive parts of the coming of age process.

Bio: Amy T. Schalet, is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Massachusetts–Amherst, and a specialist on culture and adolescent sexuality in comparative perspective. She has worked closely with physician organizations, collaborated on clinical and educational materials, and advised community advocacy groups and policy makers. Schalet has presented research to multiple audiences outside the academy, including at the Massachusetts Department of Health, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  She was awarded the Goode Book Award from the American Sociological Association, as well as the Carol Mendez Cassell Award for Excellence in Sexuality Education from the Healthy Teen Network for her book, Not Under My Roof: Parents, Teens and the Culture of Sex (University of Chicago Press).  Schalet has written opinion pieces for the New York Times, Washington Post, and Huffington Post, among others.  She appeared on CNN, and her research has been featured in outlets such as the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, Time,and Salon. Schalet directs the UMass Public Engagement Project, a faculty driven initiative that trains and supports researchers to share their work with policy makers, practitioners, advocates, and the media. Schalet holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard and a doctorate from the University of California–Berkeley.