California State University, Northridge gender and women’s studies (GWS) students and queer studies students will present their capstone research projects about the cultural aspects of sexuality and gender to students, faculty, staff and members of the community on Tuesday, May 1, and Wednesday, May 2, at the university.

CSUN to host 5th annual Sex in the Library Event at the Delmar T. Oviatt Library. Photo by Ruth Saravia.

The fifth annual “Sex in the Library” event will take place in the Jack and Florence Ferman Presentation Room on the garden level of CSUN’s Delmar T. Oviatt Library, located in the center of the campus at 18111 Nordhoff St. in Northridge.

“The Oviatt Library has a great collection on issues of sexuality,” said Breny Mendoza, CSUN gender and women’s studies department chair and professor. “The issues of sexuality are the topics that we teach and research in this department. ”

The event will kick off May 1 with the Queer Studies Student Research Symposium from 1 to 5 p.m. Keynote speaker Jennifer Tyburczy, associate professor of feminist studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and author of “Sex Museums: The Politics and Performance of Display,” will present her research about the display of visual, popular and material culture in museums. She also will discuss the north, west and Latin American and European flow of sexual objects across mapped and symbolic borders. After her presentation, students will showcase their research on gender studies.

The 14th annual GWS Student Conference will take place May 2 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. At the event, students will present their research on feminism in high school, racial discrimination in healthcare, mass incarceration, female masculinity and mental health issues in migrant communities.

“Their [the students] research goes beyond the classroom because they share it with the CSUN community and participate to speak in a scholarly conversation with others,” said Mendoza.

The panel discussion “Dialogues Across the Colonial Divide: An Evening with Indigenous and Mestiza Feminists from Abya Yala and Turtle Island” will take place from 4 to 6 p.m. Panelists include: Aura Cumes, feminist scholar activist; Karina Ochoa, sociology professor at Autonomous Metropolitan University Azcapotzalco, Mexico; Kimberly Robertson, Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies professor at California State University, Los Angeles professor; and moderator Mendoza.

The event is free and open to the public. Persons with disabilities who will need accommodations please call (818) 677-2638 or email library.event@csun.edu in advance for arrangements.

In addition to the series of presentations, two students, one from Queer Studies and one from Gender and Women’s Studies, will be selected to receive special scholarships. The selection of these awards will be based on the student’s thoughtful integration of the Oviatt Library’s Vern and Bonnie Bullough Collection on Sex and Gender archival research that was used to support their Capstone projects. Funding for these scholarships is provided by the Vern and Bonnie Bullough Endowment, the catalyst for the creation of this series of events. The primary objective of the Bullough endowment is to support programs and exhibitions featuring speakers on the topics of human sexuality and gender issues. Bullough Scholarships will be awarded during Rainbow Graduation on May 18, at 1:00 p.m. at the CSUN Northridge Center, University Student Union.

For more information about the event please contact the GWS department at (818) 677-3110.

The event is organized by CSUN’s Department of Gender and Women’s Studies, Queer Studies Program and Pride Center.