2021 Race and Sexuality Proposals Funded
The Center for Positive Sexuality is pleased to announce the 2021 research projects awarded funding through generous donations from Dr. James Elias, Brooke Wells, PhD, and Anonymous Donors.
These projects center on Black people, indigenous people, and other communities of color. In 2021, we provided awards to the following projects:
Mina Beveney
Facebook: mina.beveney
“Racialized Experiences of Discrimination: A Mixed Methods Examination of Kinky People of Color’s Experiences within the Community”
Mina Beveney is a PhD candidate in Human Sexuality at Widener University. Her research interests include alternative sexuality communities, sexual health and equity, and trauma. Her current research focuses on experiences of discrimination that kinky people of color face within the BDSM or kink community. Prior to becoming a PhD candidate, Mina received her master’s of social work and master’s of education in human sexuality from Widener University. While studying there, she earned a certificate in Trauma Treatment and Practice, and was inducted into Gamma Eta Rho (a human sexuality honor society) and Phi Alpha (a social work honor society). She received her bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College, where she was awarded the Raymond S. Jackson, M.D. Dartmouth Community Health Service Award in recognition of significant contributions to peer health education. Mina is also a psychotherapist and founder of Sunbird Counseling & Consulting LLC, a private practice in Newark, DE. Her areas of expertise are relationship issues, sexual trauma, intimate partner violence, and BDSM. She completed field placements at SOAR (Survivors of Abuse in Recovery, Inc.), a non-profit organization dedicated to providing professional mental health services to victims of sexual trauma and their families, and Holcomb Behavioral Health Systems as an intern-level substance use assessor.
Justin Clardy
Twitter: @Urfavfilosopher
“Love Hates Us: Love, Race, and Non-monogamies in America”
Justin Clardy is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Santa Clara University. His research focus on normative questions that arise within the context of interpersonal relationships and political theories. His recent publications have investigated the intersection of love & race, and has largely focused on both the ethicality of non-monogamous relationship styles and the unjust political consequences for non-monogamists. An avid fan of sports (and particularly LeBron James), as a hobbyist, he aquascapes and keeps a Gourami and Tetra fish.
Lorraine Lacroix-Williamson, MPH
Twitter: @lolataughtyou_
“Black women in the U.S.: Perceptions and Attitudes Towards Consent, Sexual Satisfaction, and Sex Risk Behavior”
Lorraine Lacroix-Williamson is a Population Health doctoral student at Northeastern University, with a focus on social epidemiology and sexual health. She has worked in HIV prevention research and sexual education for over 15 years, with a focus on reducing women’s sex risk in urban communities. Her doctoral work aims to shift the conversation around women’s sexual health from a risk-averse paradigm to a more holistic and pleasure-focused perspective. Her research investigates how sociocultural factors influence sex communication to mitigate Black women’s sexuality and HIV risk outcomes.
As a daughter of Haitian immigrants, Lorraine brings her values of social justice to her work, centering the voices of those with intersecting identities when examining health disparities among marginalized populations. Her goal is to identify how women of the African diaspora assert and validate the full range of expressions of their love, how they seek pleasure, and how they communicate their desires while engaging in safer sex practices. Lorraine holds a Bachelor of Science in Human Kinesiology from Boston University, and a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from Rutgers University.
Alicia Charles D’Avalon
“Race in the Erotic Hypnosis Community”
Alicia Charles D’Avalon (she/her/they/them) is an anthropologist, culture designer, pagan clergy and the Kasike (chief) of the Yukayeke Yamaye Kokuio (Firefly Tribe of Jamaica). Their work focuses on sexuality, decolonization, and religion. Their research interests include identity construction, BDSM & Kink, Indigenous and Pagan spiritualities, sustainability, phenomenology of the sacred, and the methodological idea of research as ceremony. Her current ethnographic focus is on BIPOC communities in North America and the Indigenous cultures of Jamaica.
Sam Hughes
Twitter: @SamHughesKink
Academia.edu: https://ucsc.academia.edu/SamHughes
Researchgate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sam-Hughes-12
“Race in the Erotic Hypnosis Community”
Sam Hughes (he/him) is a PhD Candidate in Social Psychology at the University of California, Santa Cruz under the guidance of Dr. Phil Hammack in the Sexual and Gender Diversity Lab. Sam’s research focuses on the lives and experiences of people into kink, BDSM, and sexual fetishism. His work also broadly explores the relationships between sexuality, identity, mental health outcomes, attitudes, institutions, social context, power, and intersectionality. Relying on both qualitative and quantitative methods, Sam’s research seeks both to produce rigorous empirical data, while simultaneously engaging with and directly giving back to the communities being studied, especially to work through issues of inclusion and equity that challenge many kink communities. His work has appeared in several peer-reviewed academic research journals, and has also been featured in Vice, Psychology Today, Insider, Watts the Safeword, The Trauma and Mental Health Report, and Dan Savage’s Savage Lovecast. Sam holds B.A.’s in Political Science and Communication Studies from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.
Criteria for Submission
A brief (3 page maximum) proposal explaining the proposed research, a timeframe for its completion, and how it relates to one or more of the 8 Dimensions of Positive Sexuality. Applicants also submited a proposed budget and a resume or curriculum vitae.
Proposals were evaluated by the Board of Directors based on the following criteria: 1) quality and feasibility of work proposed 2) centrality of research on communities of color 3) connection of research to one or more of the Dimensions of Positive Sexuality and 4) potential for impact on communities of color.
What CPS is Providing
- Research funding
- Timely and clear communication
- Research support from one or more of our volunteer Research Assistants (as available)
- Promotion of your work via our website and social media
- For projects that require IRB approval, assistance is available via our collaboration with the CARAS IRB
- Option to submit for publication in the Journal of Positive Sexuality
Future Funding/Submissions
Center for Positive Sexuality is actively seeking donations to continue funding this project for future research. Our goal is to continue granting these awards on an annual basis as funding allows. If you wish to donate to the Race and Sexuality Research Award, please use the button below.