Department of Human Sexuality

The Human Sexuality department at CIIS draws professionals from many disciplines who are interested in furthering the scholarship of sexuality studies. We strive to provide an integral view of human sexuality that includes multiple perspectives and philosophies. Students are invited to explore desire, intimacy, identity, sexuality/gender, cultural influences, power and stigma, sexual response and practices, and reproduction.

The rigorous coursework invites students to create new knowledge via a scholar-practitioner model that allows for a deepening impact on scholarly insights and social change initiatives while remaining situated in the complexity of life. The department provides a rigorous academic environment and a way for you to engage in subject matter that will position professional work after graduation.

The program’s model moves you towards a grounded, contextual engagement with current issues in sexuality that have real material impact on people’s lives. Some examples of real-world inquiries pursued are:

• Black women’s sexual freedom 
• Sex trafficking amongst Indigenous girls and women in Canada 
• Clinical approaches to polyamory amongst millennials 
• Examining self-compassion techniques for women dealing with the aftermath of sexual violence and trauma