Karen Gipson, co-originator of the Teach-In, led this conscious conversation and began with a brief overview of this year's event centered around difficult conversations regarding power, inequality, privilege, and social justice. The 2023 Teach-In held 39 total sessions plus 2 plenaries and an open room for banned book reading. The event reached almost 1,200 attendees with about 50 students spending hours in the banned book room. Individual sessions ranged from 10 to 12 attendees to over 100. Requests for proposals communicated that student inclusion is highly recommended though not required and sessions must include an interactive component. Sessions are always LIB 100 and INT 100 approved, and many other instructors will award extra credit to encourage attendance at the event. 

The Women's Commission hosted a session titled Sex (un)Education presented by Kristen Evans, Emily Frigo and Jen Jameslyn. What was your experience with sex education in K-12? What did you have to learn - and un-learn - in adulthood? This interactive education and discussion workshop presented by interested advocates (not content experts) included a review of sex education models, a showcase of related children's literature, resource sharing, and a reflection on how elections and public policy are impacted by the sex education of voters.

The session begins and ends with a quiz so the participants can see how much knowledge they thought they knew compared to how much they learned throughout the session. Common sex education models (heteronormative, cis-normative, lacking conversation around consent or body positivity) and Michigan law is shared. By contrast, how comprehensive sex education models would look are presented and examples of these (mostly international) are shared. 

Shared feedback from the session reflected positivity surrounding the involvement of books in the session and time given for the participants to actually page through them. It was particularly interesting to compare some of the newer and older versions since books are so impactful about teaching women about their own bodies. Others enjoyed the significant time spent looking at the Ottawa County Health Department's recommendations on where sex education curriculum comes from; the idea that it is developed by a local district committee that should include a clergy member. It was really great to also see the energy in the discussion that was created by the presenters acting as moderators since there were folks in the room who knew maybe even more than they did.

The conscious conversation closed with citing some of the other more popular topics that are often covered including mental health, gender equity, racial equity, LGBTQIA issues, and intersectionality matters. There was also a lot of good feedback from attendees regarding the DSR session about recognizing and disabling ableism. Even if you are not interested in presenting, the event is always in need of other volunteers such as moderators and hosts if you have an interest in participating. The planning committee is thinking of opening up the proposal window earlier in January, but would still leave it open through he fall for first-year faculty/staff and incoming freshmen. If you have any ideas, the planning team would love to hear your thoughts for broader advertising to encourage even more faculty, staff, and particularly, student attendance next year!