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What professor’s office would have a basket overflowing with different styled and flavored condoms, a pink penis model on a bookshelf next to a book on the history of anti-masturbatory devices and in their desk a speculum, menstrual cycle necklace and condom keychain?
If you guessed Sandy Caron, professor of the immensely popular Human Sexuality class at UMaine, you would be correct. In addition to teaching both undergraduate and graduate level courses, Caron — a twenty-one year faculty member in the College of Education and Human Development — oversees several nationally acclaimed peer education groups in addition to all of her research and public service.
Located on the second floor of Merrill Hall, it is hard to miss the door covered with cartoons and quips related to sex. Caron’s spacious office is eclectic, to say the least. She explained with a smile, “People who come to my office for the first time either become immediately intrigued or appear somewhat shocked.”
A graduate student sits at a desk in the corner. An undergraduate teacher’s assistant sits in a large, comfortable chair. Research projects and recent publications are stacked high on the table, and the ding of FirstClass in the background sets the scene for an office that is welcoming and sparks curiosity. It is the type of place that makes you ask yourself, “What’s that?”
I started my interview with Caron by asking how she attained her faculty position at UMaine. Without hesitation, she lifted a black and white picture of an older man from the desk space between her laptop and the picture of her daughter. She explained, “This is Dr. Brightman. He was my mentor when I was here as an undergrad. He was the one who encouraged me to earn my masters and Ph. D. He was also the one who said, ‘Look Sandy, once you’ve earned your doctorate and worked for a while, maybe you would like to come back to UMaine because I will be retiring and I think you would have a good shot at this job.’”
This is exactly what happened. Caron, after receiving her Ph. D. at Syracuse University and working at Cornell, returned to UMaine to take her mentor’s position and teach the classes he taught during his tenure. Since then, Caron has won many distinguished awards for her work, that fill the wall space above her desk. In addition to these accolades, pictures of past teaching assistants and peer education groups hang next to various sex-themed posters. These posters include “The History of Conception,” which illustrates different tools used throughout history to prevent pregnancy and one illustrating the different penis sizes of the animal kingdom beginning with the largest (whale) and ending with the smallest (human). Talk about penis envy!
In addition to the decorated walls, a large bookshelf spans the distance of the room occupied with books you’d imagine to be in the Kinsey Institute — a sexual research institute. These include books dealing with sex research, how to talk to children about sexuality, issues discussing religion and sexuality, sex therapy — because she is also a sex therapist — Madonna’s sex book and a few of Caron’s own publications. Caron pointed out an old book entitled, “How to Get a Teenage Boy and What to Do With Him When You Get Him.” Written in 1969, it discusses how a teenage girl can find a husband — to which Caron commented, “We have come so far.” The Guinness Book of World Records, situated next to a pile of condoms, stands out. This book commemorates the Guinness record set by the University of Maine for the biggest number of couples kissing at one time (1,420) that Caron organized on Valentine’s Day in 1996.
Other interesting items that catch the eye around Caron’s office include her license plate with the letters of her Human Sexuality class: CHF351. She said this has been stolen more times then she can remember. There is a plastic skydiver that represents the time Caron hired a skydiver to deliver the final exams as a stress reliever. I picked up a tin labeled “Warning: Handle with Care” and asked what it was. Caron responded, “Go ahead and open it.” As I pulled out a sample of pubic lice on a slide, she smiled.
On top of the book shelf lays an extensive collection of educational movies: “The Art of Seduction,” “The History of the Orgasm,” “Viva La Vulva” and the Seinfeld episode “The Contest” where the cast has a competition to see who can go the longest without masturbating. Looking through her movies she also noticed something else; movies that are normally organized were disheveled and one movie — “Sharing Sexual Fantasies Vol. 5” — was missing. So if you have this video, Caron asks for it back. If not, feel free to stop by her office sometime for an eye-opening experience, but be careful what you open — especially if it is labeled “Warning: Handle with Care.”
“Inside my Desk” is a monthly article that delves into the often secluded private offices of some of the university faculty and staff. Each month I go in search for what secrets can be unearthed, what our environments reveal and what lays behind the office door.
Bangor Daily News