The Making of Sexual Health at University: A History of Students, Sex, and Identity

In the twenty-first century, the concept of sexual health has come to shape what it means to be a good citizen. The idea dominates various aspects of society, including the media, education, and public policy. The sexual health of an individual or a population plays a pivotal role in carving out responsible behaviour and societal norms.

This is particularly true within academic culture. Recent news articles and public health data have revealed that the student community, especially those aged between 18-25, faces significant challenges related to sexual health. Issues such as date rape, sexual violence, identity, consent, and increasing transmission rates of sexually transmitted infections.

This project historicises this situation by investigating sexual health at different English universities from the post-war period to the early twenty-first century. These different institutions and their diverse student bodies provide unique insights into the moments that have shaped discourses and practices related to sexual health. For instance, the post-war period saw significant societal shifts, including the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 1970s, which challenged traditional norms and led to more open discussions about sexuality and health.

Additionally, the 1980s brought the HIV/AIDS crisis, which prompted an increase in public health campaigns and education efforts on sexual health.

The project revolves around one key question: How has sexual health and its associated practices and discourses been produced and deployed by universities, and subsequently been perceived, adopted, or dismissed by students across the twentieth and into the twenty-first century?

The goal of the project is to historicise current discourses around sexual health to illustrate that contemporary ideas about students, their sexuality, and their health must be situated within a broader historical context. This project enriches and challenges the current historiography of student health, which has until now largely focused on the challenges of mental health and student activism.

Through a more holistic approach, this project incorporates these issues and others within the broader context of sexual health.

The project uses a diverse range of largely untouched sources from different university archives, including student newspapers, handbooks, and welfare guides. It also makes extensive use of the Modern Record's Centre, which holds materials from the National Union of Students. Additionally, surveys and interviews of past and present students will be conducted. This oral history element will add further depth to the project as well as to the scholarship of sexual health more broadly.