Two panel discussions, hosted by ECU and UWA's Public Policy Institute offer a unique opportunity for the public to engage with the latest research exploring the way sexuality is intertwined with our idea of love and one of society's greatest taboos - pornography.
Leading Australian and international experts will gather at Fremantle's Hybrid Warehouse on Monday 2 December to share their insights on love, desire, and pornography.
Two panel discussions, hosted by Edith Cowan University (ECU) and The University of Western Australia's Public Policy Institute, offer a unique opportunity for the public to engage with the latest research exploring the way sexuality is intertwined with our idea of love and one of society's greatest taboos – pornography.
Love, Longing, Lust – Love Studies Network: What's sex got to do with love?
Date: Monday 2 December
Time: 4 - 5:30pm
Location: Hybrid Warehouse, 5b Quarry St, Fremantle
Love, Longing and Lust will explore the long-asked, complex question: What's sex got to do with love? Our expert panel will delve into how sex, desire, and emotional connection shape our relationships, identity, and the stories we tell.
Panellists include ECU Love Studies researchers Associate Professor Debra Dudek, Dr Elizabeth Reid Boyd, and Dr Madalena Grobbelaar along with Renée Webster who is best known as writer and director of the feature film How to Please a Woman. The panel is moderated by Professor Alan McKee an expert on entertainment and healthy sexual relationships at the University of Sydney.
For more information and to register, visit the Love, Longing and Lust webpage.
Policy Taboos: Let’s talk about . . . Pornology, Pornucation, Pornocracy
Date: Monday 2 December
Time: 6 -7:30pm, social mixer with live jazz upon conclusion
Venue: Hybrid Warehouse, 5b Quarry St, Fremantle
Hear from a distinguished group of experts who study pornography from a range of discipline backgrounds and will offer insights on the social and cultural significance of pornography in the 21st century. Furthermore, the panel will also consider different policy regimes surrounding the regulation of pornography.
The panel includes world-renowned clinical psychologist and author Dr David J. Ley from the US; Giselle Woodley, sexologist and PhD candidate from Edith Cowan University; one of Australia's leading porn scholars, Professor Alan McKee from the University of Sydney; rising star sextech scholar Dr Zahra Stardust from Queensland University of Technology.
For more information and to register, visit the Policy Taboos webpage.
What's love got to do with sex?
Associate Professor Debra Dudek is one of the co-founders of ECU’s Love Studies Network research group, along with Dr. Elizabeth Reid Boyd and Dr. Madalena Grobbelaar.
"Our first book shows a range of ways in which people examine how love informs diverse areas including social work, counselling, psychology, social science, and literary and media studies," Associate Professor Dudek explained.
"In our second book, currently under consideration with Palgrave Macmillan, we asked researchers and practitioners to respond to the question, 'If sex is a problem, is love the answer?'"
"Recent films such as It Ends With Us and the controversy around its representation of intimate partner violence within the romance genre reveals how important storytelling is to the way we understand love and sex. In our panel conversation with screenwriter and director Renée Webster, we continue our engagement with her film and discuss how she addresses these questions in her work, including in How to Please a Woman. We look forward to a robust conversation about how we understand a connection between love, lust, and longing through the stories we tell ourselves and the stories we are told," Associate Professor Dudek said.
