The Social Construction of Sexuality in Primary School Classrooms

Through qualitative interviews with primary school teachers, this research sought to uncover how heterosexual privilege is maintained in talk about sexuality. More specifically, this research sought to identify the strategies used by teachers in talking to their students about sexuality. These strategies took shape in the following: a reliance on scientific explanations, deferring to others, a reliance on faith and religion, and the presumption that children are innocent and asexual. This research determined that these strategies were used to produce, reproduce, and maintain heterosexism and heteronormativity. The implications of this research are that schools are missing an important opportunity to create a safe and inclusive environment for ga

The Experiences of First-Generation University Students

As the enrollment of first-generation university students increases it becomes paramount to analyze their unique experiences. It is important not to dismiss these students as passively accepting of their lower-class positions, but rather recognize their potential for mobility. This paper works under the assumption that students have found a way to confront barriers to university access, and have already gained enrollment within an institution. Thus, the focus centers upon experiences within the university setting as they pertain to support systems, engagement within the university, and academic achievement. Such experiences are framed within the theoretical confines of Pierre Bourdieu and his cultural reproduction theory, which speaks to issues of capital. These arguments are enhanced through theories of cultural mismatch, as well as the works of Erving Goffman and his notes on stigma. Ideally, this paper seeks to inform university policy such that relevant programming and support may be established for first-generation students

The Gendered Nature of Sexuality

This essay focuses on casual sex encounters, wherein the gendered nature of sexuality is thought to be most salient. Four specific areas of sexuality and its scripts are investigated as gendered within this essay: instigation, negotiation, the act of intercourse, and social repercussions of participation. These four categories are comparatively analyzed within the two dominant and competing perspectives of essentialism and social constructionism. This analysis seeks to highlight the superiority of a constructionist view in explaining the gendered nature of sexuality. The narrow minded view of essentialism, with its failure to acknowledge the influences of social and cultural factors, posits the perspective as inadequate by comparison

Microscale friction reduction by normal force modulation in MEMS.

Friction in MEMS-scale devices is troublesome because it can result in lateral stiction of two sliding surfaces. We have investigated the effect of modulation of the normal force on the friction between two sliding MEMS surfaces, using a fully MEMS-based tribometer. We have found that the friction is reduced significantly when the modulation is large enough. A simple model is presented that describes the friction reduction as a function of modulation frequency as well. Using this technique, lateral stiction-related seizure of microscopic sliding components can be mitigated

The Leiden MEMS Tribometer: Real Time Dynamic Friction Loop Measurements With an On-Chip Tribometer

Quantum Matter and Optic