SUNY Potsdam professor publishes two human sexuality textbooks
Patrick Harris
Issue date: 5/8/09 Section: News
Dr. Patricia Whelehan, of SUNY Potsdam's anthropology department, published two textbooks this year. One, co-written with Dr. Anne Bolin of Elon University, is a new version of an existing piece, while the other stands as a unique work in the field of HIV/AIDS education.
Human Sexuality: Biological Psychological and Cultural Understandings will replace the currently-used Perspectives on Human Sexuality, well known to anyone who has taken Dr. Whelehan's "Human Sexuality" course. The updated title reflects the substantial changes that the work has undergone, including expansion of chapters on HIV/AIDS, contraception and human sexual response. Explanations of evolution have been re-written by a biological anthropologist, and a psychologist was brought in for an interdisciplinary look at socio-psychological aspects of human sexuality. New material has been added on the topic of globalization of sex work.
The Anthropology of AIDS: A Global Perspective is hailed as the first undergraduate-level anthropological textbook on the study of HIV/AIDS. A work in progress for several years, drafts of the book have served as the text for Dr. Whelehan's "Anthropology of AIDS" class. The published work incorporates student feedback as well as several rounds of peer review, and has been made as current as possible in the face of such a dynamic epidemic.
"Writing a book is like peeling an onion in reverse," Dr. Whelehan remarked during a recent interview with The Racquette. "When you write a book, your initial draft that you submit is sent out to reviewers, peers in your field, and you get that back, and then you revise it. And then it goes out again, and you get that back, and revise it."
Dr. Whelehan's plans for future publication include a sabbatical during the spring 2010 semester to serve with Dr. Bolin as co-editor-in-chief of a four volume encyclopedia on human sexuality. The encyclopedia will be published by Wiley-Blackwell, described by Dr. Whelehan as "the largest anthropology publishing company in the world."
Human Sexuality: Biological Psychological and Cultural Understandings will replace the currently-used Perspectives on Human Sexuality, well known to anyone who has taken Dr. Whelehan's "Human Sexuality" course. The updated title reflects the substantial changes that the work has undergone, including expansion of chapters on HIV/AIDS, contraception and human sexual response. Explanations of evolution have been re-written by a biological anthropologist, and a psychologist was brought in for an interdisciplinary look at socio-psychological aspects of human sexuality. New material has been added on the topic of globalization of sex work.
The Anthropology of AIDS: A Global Perspective is hailed as the first undergraduate-level anthropological textbook on the study of HIV/AIDS. A work in progress for several years, drafts of the book have served as the text for Dr. Whelehan's "Anthropology of AIDS" class. The published work incorporates student feedback as well as several rounds of peer review, and has been made as current as possible in the face of such a dynamic epidemic.
"Writing a book is like peeling an onion in reverse," Dr. Whelehan remarked during a recent interview with The Racquette. "When you write a book, your initial draft that you submit is sent out to reviewers, peers in your field, and you get that back, and then you revise it. And then it goes out again, and you get that back, and revise it."
Dr. Whelehan's plans for future publication include a sabbatical during the spring 2010 semester to serve with Dr. Bolin as co-editor-in-chief of a four volume encyclopedia on human sexuality. The encyclopedia will be published by Wiley-Blackwell, described by Dr. Whelehan as "the largest anthropology publishing company in the world."
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