Author Introductions

Hi! My name is Lauren, a Pomona College student. Through this pressbook, I aim to further youth education in the field of the history of sexuality and erase the stigmas surrounding sexual education. In addition, I hope to make more complicated texts both more accessible and provide a space to be able to critique them.

Hi! My name is Tristen Leone, I use she/her/hers pronouns, and I am a sophomore at Pomona College. I am from Boston, Massachusetts and am double-majoring in Classics, with a concentration in Latin and Greek literature, and English. As a queer individual, I want this pressbook to be a place where people of all sexualities feel represented throughout history. By providing a space for both youth and adults to develop discourse around the history of sexuality, I hope that this pressbook will empower people of all ages to address their own experiences with sexual education and sexuality.

Hi! My name is Ellen J (she/her) and I’m a student at Pomona College. I am the child of two educators and I’m an aspiring educator. I am thrilled to be supporting my peers in the creation of this pressbook. I hope the pressbook is a resource and a reflection on how the critical study of the history of sexuality can prompt conversations that enable us to be better supporters of one another, in all learning and loving pursuits.

Hi 🙂 My name is Clementine Sparks Farnum, I use all pronouns, and I am a senior at Scripps College where I study Classics. I am from Walla Walla, Washington, and Brooklin, Maine. I fell in love with Classical Greek literature during my very first year at college, and I hope this pressbook might be the beginning of a very long love story for future readers. We the authors aim to create a critical learning and thinking space to dissect the history of sexuality and learn our own place within this discourse. We all belong within the field of classics, and academia, it’s just a matter of learning how and where we fit.

My name is Jane L. I use she/her/hers pronouns and am a junior at Scripps College majoring in Politics. I am from Los Angeles, CA, and am thrilled to be studying the History of Sexuality this semester. I am interested in studying Greek classics through the lens of intersectional politics and the study of critical theory. I think that the literature and resources on sexuality are limited today, and need to be expanded and more widely available. I hope that through this pressbook students and learners can take what our class has discussed and learned from theory to create their own tales, stories, experiences, and ideas about sexuality.

Hey! My name is Mikayla Stout, I’m from Portland, Oregon, I use she/her pronouns, and I am a junior at Scripps College majoring in Studio Art and Interdisciplinary Studies in Culture. As a queer woman who struggled with coming to terms with her sexuality in high school, I am so excited to be collaborating on this resource with my peers. Our goal is to create a space here where you can find something interesting, helpful, or moving to you! I hope this pressbook can serve as a safe space to explore Ancient Greece, sexuality, and yourself.

Hey! My name is Madi Hesse, I use she/her pronouns, and I’m a senior at Pomona College where I’m studying Classics and am on the pre-health track. I grew up in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, where I wondered for years if Classics was something I even wanted to pursue in college. I’m so glad I eventually did, and am wildly grateful for the chance to be a part of this project which recognizes the narrative perspectives of people on the margins as vital to exploring the history of sexuality. I hope this Pressbook serves as a reminder that we are all producers of history and of knowledge, capable of reimagining the discipline and our place within it.

Hi, my name is Sophie Varma! I use she/her pronouns. I’m from Brooklyn, NY, and I’m a senior at Pitzer College majoring in History with a concentration in West Africa and gender. I’m so excited to be part of this Pressbook with my peers! For me, this is one of my first encounters with an in-depth exploration of sexuality within the context of Ancient Greece—and I’ve had so much fun! I hope that through this Pressbook, we can offer you all the tools needed to delve into your own areas of interest that relate to you. Remember, take your time and explore at your own pace 🙂

Hi! My name is Sara Cawley (she/her/hers) and I’m a sophomore at Scripps College from Chicago, IL. I’m a dual major in Data Science and Psychology. I hope our Pressbook empowers you to look at sexuality in a different way than you’ve been taught to by controlling, hegemonic narratives. I’ve started to look at my own queerness from a new perspective since being in our History of Sexuality class, and I feel a little bit freer because of it. Take what feels right to you and leave what doesn’t – you are free to develop (or not develop!) your own theory of sexuality!

My name is Kevin Carlson, I use he/him pronouns, and I’m a Late Antique and Medieval Studies major graduating in 2024 from Pomona College. I’m from Kirkland, Washington, and I am so excited to be participating in the History of Sexuality seminar this semester. As a student of the medieval period, I have been exposed to a variety of ways that humans have historically conceived of sexuality, especially in a negative context. Yet, even during the repressive period of the Middle Ages, ideas of sexuality continued to flourish in new contexts, especially chaste settings. My aim in taking this class is to both expand my own knowledge of the history of sexuality beyond the period I study and also share my learning with others pursuing an understanding of the history of sexuality from an intersectional perspective.

Hi, my name is Kae Tanabe, I’m from Santa Monica, CA, and I use she/her pronouns. I am a junior at Pitzer and I am majoring in Environment, Economics, and Politics. Taking classics courses in college stemmed from taking Latin in high school and now I am minoring in Classics. While I don’t know if I will ever consider myself an expert on the history of sexuality, I hope this pressbook will find the topic of sexuality a more enjoyable and interesting topic to talk about. Growing up in an Asian culture and through high school, it was engrained into my mind that talking about sexuality was a taboo topic. Through this experience, I hope the pressbook opens up opportunities to discuss with your peers as well!

Hi, my name is Ximena Alba Barcenas, I use she/her pronouns, and I am a senior at Pomona College where I am majoring in both History and Classics. I am originally from Aguascalientes, Mexico but have also lived in Montclair, California for a while now. As a first-generation, low-income, Mexican student, I was expected to follow a certain path. I do not think many people expected me to get into the field I currently am in. However I believe in finding connections across stories, time, and cultures. I think that in doing so you find more about yourself and become empowered to present your own story. This is what I hope this Pressbook will do for you, help you discover more about yourself and make you feel empowered in who you are so you can share this knowledge to a world that sometimes refuses to acknowledge and support people in certain communities.

Hi! My name is Corinne Stevens (she/her) and I am a senior at Scripps College majoring in Classics and minoring in Art History. I am from Canton, Massachusetts, and have always been extremely interested about history and learning about the lives of people from the past. I discovered Classical studies as a freshman and found that this field perfectly combines my love of art, history, literature, and anthropology! As a queer woman in Classics, the history of sexuality in Ancient Greece is a topic I find to be incredibly relevant both when framing sexuality in a historical context and considering current societal ideas concerning sexuality present day. My hope is that this pressbook is able to provide those interested in the study of sexuality specifically within Ancient Greece with an introduction to what we as a classroom community believe to be the most relevant information regarding this.

Howdy 🙂 My name is Jonah, and I attend Pomona College where I study Classics and Philosophy. I grew up in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, which is normally where people say “I’m sorry”, but growing up in such a conservative state has helped me reaffirm my value as a human and understand the necessity of treating others with kindness and respect, no matter their background. I have enjoyed working on this Pressbook because of the value I think this will bring to high schoolers. I had minimal resources growing up, and having a toolkit such as this would have been very useful to high school Jonah. Don’t forget to be kind, be respectful, and be yourself ❤️

I’m Jody Valentine and I attended the Evergreen State College and the University of Washington for my undergrad.  I did my doctorate in “Classics” (a problematic name for the study of ancient Greek and Roman culture, literature, and history) at The University of Southern California.  I live in Los Angeles with my partner and our ten year old child.  Since I was about ten years old, I loved reading, writing, and playing “school” with my younger sister and, when she could suffer my pedantic ways no longer, my stuffed animals. I always imagined myself becoming a teacher. Since I began teaching my stuffies lined up on a wicker loveseat in my childhood home, till the fall of 2023, when I organized a seminar on the History of Sexuality, my ideas about what it means to be an educator have transformed.  Though I wasn’t wrong — I do love being an educator — I’m not interested in lecturing to a passive audience or performing my expertise. I’m invested in co-learning and this semester I’ve had the pleasure of working with a wonderful group of student-colleagues to study the History of Sexuality. These students and I worked collaboratively to create this Toolkit.