Sex - the act as well as its symbolic, practical, and pleasurable associations  – became an object of scientific investigation and control in the Western world in the 19th century. Sex, however, was neither an exclusively Western activity nor a specific 19th-century scientific invention. This course examines the idea of sex and its manifestations globally, focusing on the ways in which communities and experts engaged in debates and discussions about sexual practices from Asia, Latin America, Africa, as well as Europe and North America.