Intimacy in the Time of COVID

The widespread use of technology has ushered in new opportunities for our intimate lives in ways that are influencing human behavior and relationships. In this midst of this, the COVID-19 pandemic added unprecedented challenges for multiple aspects of social life, including romantic and sexual relationships. Justin Garcia '07, MS '09, PhD '12 will share recent research findings from studies at the Kinsey Institute, as well as findings from a decade-long Singles in America study with Match.com on what we know about how people are forming and maintaining intimate connections today and into the future.

Garcia is executive director of the Kinsey Institute, Ruth Halls Associate Professor of Gender Studies, and IU Bicentennial Professor at Indiana University, Bloomington. Garcia holds an MS in biomedical anthropology and PhD in evolutionary biology at Binghamton University. His research focuses on the evolutionary foundations of variation in courtship, intimacy and sexual behavior. He has co-authored dozens of academic articles and book chapters, and is co-author of Evolution and Human Sexual Behavior (Harvard University Press) and co-editor of Evolution’s Empress: Darwinian Perspectives on the Nature of Women (Oxford University Press). An award-winning researcher and educator, Garcia has lent his expertise to a variety of industry partners, serving as a scientific consultant to K-Y Brand, Teva Pharmaceuticals and others, and as an expert witness for the U.S. Department of Defense. Since 2010, he has been scientific advisor to the world’s largest relationship company, Match. His next book is titled The Intimate Animal.