Webinars

Reading Group: Children of the Future, Led by Jennifer Evans, PhD

Monday evenings 6-7 pm ET

March 23rd through May 11th (6 sessions total)

via Zoom video

Audience: Open to attendees interested in early childhood development, sexuality education and therapy, social justice, and the historical development of Reich’s work. No prerequisites necessary. Attendees should plan to attend all 6 sessions if they are able. If an occasional session is missed, it is understandable, but the goal is to build knowledge and understanding as a group. There will be no recording, and this will be a supportive and confidential space.

Use this form to sign up: https://forms.gle/QZ1dw5xAV7sytZUk6

Goal: Read and discuss selections from Children of the Future: On the Prevention of Sexual Pathology as a group. This is a collection of writings by Wilhelm Reich on childhood sexuality written between 1926 and 1952 and published posthumously. In the preface to the book, William Steig writes: “Why do we humans, in many ways the most intelligent of all animals, fail to realize what every dog, or whale, or mouse spontaneously knows–that he is part of nature and must cooperate with it, obey its laws? Why are we estranged from life? What is wrong with us, with our way of rearing our children?” In this reading group, we will explore these questions and discuss Reich’s views of the natural self-regulatory capacity of children and how we can raise our children to be healthy, emotionally free individuals while living in an armored world.

Objectives:

To explore primary source documents to better understand Reich’s views in his own words.
To spark discussion around the topic of sex positive childrearing for the prevention of sexual pathology.
To discuss and evaluate the applicability of Reich’s work to modern problems around childhood sex education and sexuality.

Agenda:

March 23: “The Source of the Human No” and “Children of the Future” (18 pages)

March 30: “Problems of Healthy Children during the First Puberty” (41 pages)

April 13: “Meeting the Emotional Plague” (17 pages)

April 20: “Armoring in a Newborn Infant” (22 pages)

April 27: “Concerning Childhood Masturbation” and “A Conversation with a Sensible Mother” (20 pages)

May 11: “The Sexual Rights of Youth” (60 pages)

Purchase the book here: https://wilhelmreichmuseum.org/product/children-of-the-future-by-wilhelm-reich/

Use this form to join the reading group: https://forms.gle/QZ1dw5xAV7sytZUk6

About: Jennifer Evans is an independent scholar based in Atlanta, GA. She earned her doctorate in the History of Science from Harvard University. Her dissertation focused on Wilhelm Reich’s bioelectrical experiments, examining their scientific and cultural context and influence on the development of Reich’s thought. She is currently pursuing a certificate in Sexuality Education from the University of Michigan School of Social Work with a goal of discovering new and creative ways to make Reich’s work on the function of the orgasm accessible to a modern audience.