In past summers, we've had participants attend our annual Summer Institute from just about every state in the U.S. and from a number of countries around the globe. And every year, we hear all sorts of stories about why they decided to attend, and we hear even more stories about what they got out of the experience once they've returned to their homes.  We decided to put together a compilation of the top ten reasons you should consider attending this year's Summer Institute on Race, Gender, and Sexuality in the United States.   

10. Spend a month in San Francisco! Often touted as one of the most beautiful cities in the U.S., San Francisco is a cosmopolitan city with never a dull moment.  From the world-class restaurants, incredible museums, eclectic and diverse neighborhoods, walking tours, Victorian and Edwardian architecture, Golden Gate Park (and all the smaller parks throughout the city!), lectures, screenings, and the infamous club and nightlife scene, you'll never have a hard time finding something to do anytime of day or week.

9. If you do find yourself bored with life in the City, the rest of the Bay Area will surely have plenty to offer to keep you occupied.  Scout a tech job in Silicon...

We've got a number of things brewing at the NSRC in Education and Training.  I'm leaving for Denver tomorrow afternoon to co-faciliatate a daylong institute and a couple of workshops on sexual literacy at the NGLTF Creating Change Conference. We've also been preparing for our next regional training, this one to take place in Austin, TX, on February 26 and 27, and planning our annual Summer Institute, the theme of which this year is "Race, Gender, and Sexuality in the U.S."  My job as the Director of Education and Training requires that I go beyond ensuring that participants in our programs learn the basics of sexuality education and research and help them prepare to be professionals in this field - and that may mean different things to different people and there are many disagreements about what that means.  For example, some prefer to be called sexologists while others prefer sexuality researchers and sexuality educators while others prefer to be called anthropologists, psychologists, sociologists, etc., who work in the field of sexuality studies.  I don't think there are many other fields that require this type of debate or consideration. 

A number of incidents over the past few weeks, personal, professional,...