In response to several recent inquiries about the development of an international short course in critical sexuality theory and research methodologies, we decided to dedicate our final blog post of the year to a project update as we get ready to enter the course's final roll-out phase.

SexualityStudies.net was created almost two years ago as part of a project to develop an international short course in critical sexuality theory and research methodologies . This project is funded by the Ford Foundation and has been developed by the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society (ARCSHS) in conjunction with the International Association for the Study of Sexuality, Culture and Society (IASSCS).

The project consists of four phases: (1) a scoping and feasibility study, (2) curriculum and resource development, (3) piloting and evaluation, and (4) roll-out of the final course.

Phase one was completed in 2007 and many of the products (such as databases of sexuality studies organisations and programs, scoping studies and literature reviews) are available on SexualityStudies.net. Phase two was underway in 2008, and curriculum was developed for 16 modules. These are listed below.

• Young people and sexuality
• Sexual rights
• Postcolonialism and sexuality
• Kinship and sexuality
• Gender and sexuality
• Biopower, governmentality and technologies of the self
• The body and sexuality: personhood, disability, chronic illness and bodily futures
• Translating sexuality
• Christianity and sexuality
• Islam and sexuality
• Sexual identities and sexual cultures
• Media and sexuality
• Development and sexuality
• 'African' AIDS
• Men and masculinities
• Research methodologies in critical sexuality studies

The module list may change in the future, and partner organisations and institutions utilising the course may create new modules or modify existing ones in line with specific interests and needs.

2009 has been an eventful year for the project team, which is currently wrapping up phase 3 - the piloting and evaluation of the course modules. The project's curriculum working group met in Hanoi in April during the IASSCS biennial conference in order to review the course modules. The modules were then piloted in July in Mombasa, Kenya, with participants from both Kenya and Uganda, and again in August in Surabaya, Indonesia, with participants from across Indonesia.

Overall, the results of the external evaluation of the course modules were extremely positive and participants were very supportive of the course content and delivery. For example, across both piloting sites, when participants were asked about the relevance of the course modules to their cultural context or background, over 90 percent said 'very good' or 'good', with only a small number suggesting that it was 'fair' or 'needed work'. The evaluation revealed similar percentages for other questions, such as: relevance of the course to employment context, the applicability of class activities, ability to understand materials and the moral and political acceptability of module content.

In light of the pilots and the evaluation results, the project team is currently refining and finalising the course modules and ensuring materials can 'stand-alone' so that future facilitators can effectively use the resources. Sean Slavin, the project coordinator, resigned from ARCSHS in October 2009 to take up a position in Sydney. The final work on the evaluation and fine-tuning of the course modules has been taken on by Gillian Fletcher and Duane Duncan, and continues to be directed by Gary Dowsett.

The course modules will soon be transferred to IASSCS who will be responsible for the roll-out of the final course in 2010 and 2011, which has also been funded by the Ford Foundation. ARCSHS at La Trobe University will continue to participate in the project in an advisory capacity throughout the final phase of the project.

All course materials will be licensed for open access through Creative Commons.