Professor Sarah Earle's Inaugural Lecture

In this inaugural lecture, Professor Sarah Earle reflects on her journey as a medical sociologist, beginning with the moment her passion for sociology was first sparked at her secondary school in West London. This early curiosity deepened as she went on to study sociology and social policy at degree level, followed by a doctorate exploring women’s embodiment in pregnancy and childbirth. It was during this time that her commitment to the sociology of reproductive and sexual health took shape, setting the course for her future research and academic career.

During this lecture, Professor Earle brings visibility to the reproductive and sexual lives of disabled people through the lens of co-production. Drawing on decades of research in medical sociology, she highlights how traditional approaches often exclude disabled voices from shaping the very policies and practices that affect them. Earle advocates for co-production as a transformative method – centering lived experience, fostering collaboration, and challenging power imbalances in research and care. Working in the field of sexology has brought its own challenges, given the persistent stigma, discomfort, and marginalisation that often surround discussions of sex and intimacy—particularly in relation to disability. Yet her work disrupts medicalised and paternalistic narratives, offering new possibilities for inclusive, rights-based approaches to intimacy, reproductive justice, and sexual health.

Biography

Sarah Earle joined the Department of Social & Political Sciences at Nottingham Trent University as Professor of Social Sciences in November 2023. She is a medical sociologist with expertise in reproductive and sexual health, as well as disability studies. Her work explores the complex intersections between these fields, examining lived experiences of sex, intimacy and reproduction. Her books include Sex, Intimacy and Living with Life-shortening Conditions, Understanding Reproductive Loss, Sex in Cyberspace, and Gender, Identity and Reproduction.

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Host or Publisher Nottingham Trent University