For an upcoming assignment, you will be examining histories of sexuality at the University of Puget Sound to see how sex, sexual identity, and sexual politics have shaped campus life. 

Consider the following source from the February 28, 1986 issue of The Trail:

“Gay/Lesbian Support Group: Stressing the positive in non-traditional role” (article begins on page 6)

What does this article tell (or not tell) us about how sexuality and/or diverse sexual identities were perceived or experienced on campus? How does this source fit into the histories you've discussed in class so far? 

Start with these resources to begin your research about sex, sexual identity, and sexual politics on campus.

Online digital collections have their quirks, so below are some tips & tricks for doing research in Puget Sound's digital collections.

When searching, remember to:

• Put quotation marks around individuals' names or distinct phrases. This will ensure that your search is targeted to that exact phrase.
  • For example, "Isiaah Crawford" would bring us results for our current president. If you search Isiaah Crawford, you'll get A LOT more results--including all Isiaahs and Crawfords!
• Try using an asterisk (*) to broaden your search.
  • Try searching protest* and you'll receive results for protest, protests, protesters, etc. Or insert the asterisk in a word where there might be variations, such as wom*n, which would return woman, women, womxn, womyn, etc. 
• Use the search filters on the left-hand side of search results to help narrow your search
  • My favorite search facet is Publication Year! Take a look to see how many search results there are per year.
• Take advantage of text-searchability
  • All of our university publications are fully text-searchable, so once you open a document try using the "Find" function (Ctrl + F or Command + F) and type in a search term or key word. Every instance of the word will be highlighted so you don't have to read the entire document to find what you're looking for!

As always, if you hit a wall while doing research, feel free to email archives@pugetsound.edu for assistance. 

What topics interest you for this assignment?

Use our class Padlet to brainstorm search terms related to sexuality studies: 

https://padlet.com/curtikate/GQS310

Below are some search terms to get your started on your Primary Source Analysis project:

Sexuality, Healthy Relationships, & Sexual Assault Prevention search terms for Puget Sound

• Campus Departments & Organizations
  • BRAVe, which stands for Bystander Revolution Against Violence, is a part of the Division of Student Affairs
  • Sexual and Gender Violence Committee (SGVC)
  • Title IX
  • VOX Voices for Planned Parenthood (2000s-present)
  • Vagina Anti-Violence Association (VAVA)
  • Students Against Sexual Harassment (SASH, 1990s-2000s)
  • SIRGE (Sexuality Issues, Relationships, and Gender Education)
  • Wetlands publication
  • WIXEN (Women's InterseXtionality, Empowerment, and Narratives)
• Campus Events
  • Green Dot 
  • Sexual Assault Awareness Month: April
  • Take Back the Night
  • The Clothesline Project (annually since 2000s)
  • Babeland sex workshops/presentations
  • Vagina Monologues (February, 2000s-present)
  • "The Happy Trail," The Trail's sex column 

LGBTQIA search terms for Puget Sound

• Campus groups and organizations that might be of interest (note: make sure you try spelling variations since typos and inaccuracies are present in university publications)
  • Lifestyles Forum (1985/86)
  • Gay Support Group (1986-88)
  • As Is & Between the Lines (support groups led by CHWS between 1980s-2000s)
  • Understanding Sexuality (US)
  • BGLAD, which stands for Bisexuals, Gay and Lesbian and Allies for Diversity (also search B-GLAD, B.G.L.A.D., B.-G.L.A.D.)
  • Queer Alliance
• Campus Events
  • National Coming Out Days (Octobers since mid-1990s)
  • Gay 101 (talks for courses by panels of current students, began in 1990s)
  • Queer Dance (first took place in mid-to-late 1990s)
  • Drag Show

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but we hope it will get you started on your research!