Anne Fausto-Sterling, professor of biology and gender studies at Brown University and author ofSexing the Body: Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality, will speak at Denison University at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday (Oct. 18) in Burton Morgan Lecture Hall. Her presentation is titled "Understanding Sexual Differentiation: A New Paradigm for Psychology." Sponsored by the Women's Studies Program and the Laura C. Harris Endowed Fund, the lecture is free and open to the public.

Fausto-Sterling has given rise to important but controversial issues with her work in gender studies. Her essay, "The Five Sexes: Why Male and Female Are Not Enough," speaks of how she wishes to eliminate the two-sex system in favor of five sexes that regard intersex minorities. She believes that the two-sex either/or binary that we use to understand biology needs review. Fausto-Sterling sees the practice of surgically "fixing" the physical attributes of intersex children and raising them according to their assigned gender as potentially damaging, and believes that such cases could be better managed with therapy and acceptance.

Sexing the Body(Basic Books, 2000) received the Distinguished Publication Award in 2001 from the Association for Women in Psychology and was the co-winner of the Robert K. Merton Award of the American Sociological Association Section on Science, Knowledge, and Technology. She also wroteMyths of Gender: Biological Theories About Men and Women(Basic Books, 1985) which examines claims of biologically-based sex differences that cause behavioral differences in men and women.

Fausto-Sterling teaches in the department of molecular and cell biology and biochemistry and serves as chair of the Faculty Committee on Science and Technology Studies at Brown University. She has been a visiting professor at various institutions in the U.S. and abroad and is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

The Laura C. Harris Endowed Fund provides for a Distinguished Visiting Professorship, scholarships for women in science, English, and music, and lectures at Denison. The late Laura C. Harris, who earned a bachelor's degree from Denison in 1916, was the first woman to receive a medical degree from Syracuse University and was a pioneer medical educator among women. Harris was appointed clinical professor of pediatrics at the State University of New York Medical Center at Syracuse. Her teaching career spanned more than 30 years. In 1951, Harris was honored with a Denison Alumni Citation, and in 1981 with an honorary doctor of humane letters degree. She died in 1987 at the age of 93.

Calendar Listing:

CALENDAR LISTING: Denison University, Granville -- The Laura C. Harris Endowed Fund and the Women's Studies Program present author and professor of biology and gender studies Anne Fausto-Sterling to speak on "Understanding Sexual Differentiation: A New Paradigm for Psychology" at 4:30 p.m., Tuesday (Oct. 18), Burton Morgan Lecture Hall (150 Ridge Road). Free and open to the public. Call 740-587-6297 to confirm information.

About Denison:

Denison University, founded in 1831, is an independent, residential liberal arts institution located in Granville, Ohio. A highly selective college enrolling 2,100 full-time undergraduate students from all 50 states and dozens of foreign countries, Denison is a place where innovative faculty and motivated students collaborate in rigorous scholarship, civic engagement and the cultivation of independent thinking.

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