Join the Alumni Association for a conversation with Pepper Schwartz, on-air relationship expert for Lifetime's "Married at First Sight” and prolific author and researcher on the subjects of love, sexuality, and commitment. Hedwig "Hedy" Lee, professor of sociology, director of undergraduate studies, associate director of the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity, & Equity, will moderate this event. In this 35-minute conversation, Pepper and Hedy will discuss reasons why it can be so difficult to get a date, keep a relationship, or maintain a marriage, as well as big myths surrounding relationships and marriage. A 20-minute Q&A with the audience will follow this conversation. 

About our speaker:
Pepper Schwartz is an on-air relationship expert for “Married at First Sight,” the Critic's Choice Award–winning Lifetime series, now on its 13th season. Acclaimed author, researcher, and television personality, Schwartz has devoted her life to furthering the fields of intimacy and sexuality. After earning a BA and MA at Washington University in St. Louis, Schwartz went on to earn her PhD in sociology at Yale University in 1974. Over the next 40 years, Schwartz became a prolific writer of articles on love, sexuality, and commitment. She is also the author and co-author for 25 books, including the New York Times bestsellers American Couples and The Normal Bar: The Surprising Secrets of Happy Couples. Many of her books, including Prime, Ten Talks Parents Must Have with Children About Sex and Character, Peer Marriage, and The Great Sex Weekend, were featured on Oprah. Her latest books are Snap Strategies for Couples, Frommer's Places for Passion, and 50 Great Myths of Human Sexuality.

Schwartz is the former president of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexualities (SSSS) and the Pacific Sociological Association. She is also a fellow of the International Academy of Sex Research. She received the Public Understanding of Sociology award and the Simon and Gagnon award from the American Sociological Association in 2005. Law and Politics Magazine named her one of the 25 Smartest People in Washington State, and the New York Times wrote a profile on her for their science column in 2007.

Schwartz received the Distinguished Alumni Award from WashU in 2007 and served on the alumni council of Yale University Graduate School. The Human Sexuality Program at the University of Minnesota is creating a professorship in Schwartz's name on the subject of sexuality and aging, and there is a Pepper Schwartz Graduate Fellowship at the University of Washington, where she has been teaching since 1972. Schwartz was the AARP Love, Sex, and Relationship ambassador for more than a decade, and she is the romance concierge for the Salish Lodge in Washington. She continues to lecture nationally and internationally on intimate relationships, sexuality, and women's wellbeing.

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