She wanted to understand the dynamic between relationship statuses, casual sexual encounters and the mindsets behind them.

Having conducted a significant amount of research on human sexuality, Wade narrowed the focus of her work and began looking at college hookup culture specifically. Earlier this year, however, Wade released “American Hookup: The New Culture of Sex on Campus,” an investigative book centered around the sexual lives of college students across the country. On Wednesday night, the university’s kNOw MORE campaign hosted author Lisa Wade to discuss this idea of hookup culture with students and faculty members.Ī well-known sociologist and essayist, Wade has written for a number of well-known publications including the Washington Post, Guardian and TIME. In this way, high school dating is often more about sexual experimentation a kind of trial and error that leads individuals to adopt the mindset that breakups are inevitable once college comes around.īut when students embark on their journeys toward higher education, the casualness of high school dating is exacerbated and translated into a phenomenon known as “hookup culture”.

For those who participate in casual dating culture - one with no shortage of teen angst - these highly emotional, and sometimes disastrous, relationships have become something of a rite of passage. Lisa Wade discusses modern day “hookup culture.”Ĭasual dating is common in high school.

Lisa wade hook up culture