This year, the organizers decided to shift the focus. Rather than giving the stage to renowned researchers, it was given to undergraduate students. Three McGill undergraduates were given four minutes to present their own theories of love and defend it against a panel of judges consisting of recently graduated McGill science students.

Love is the drug

The evening started with the neurochemical drivers of two early stages in love: lust and attraction. According to the first student, Adam Iskric, being in love is comparable to being on, and addicted to, drugs. Various hormones and neurotransmitters are involved in the feelings of love – testosterone, dopamine, adrenaline, and serotonin. “Dopamine, for instance, has the same effect as cocaine. It stimulates the desire and reward system in the brain and gives us this intense feeling of pleasure,” explained Iskric. Increases in dopamine levels are associated with increased levels of energy, loss of appetite, less need for sleep, and focused attention toward a partner. In that sense, we are getting addicted to our partner.

Trust me (this is love)

“Imagine this. Meet a random stranger, sit together on a bench, exchange intimate personal experiences for half an hour, and then stare in each other’s eyes for four minutes,” described the next student speaker, Alexander Rosenthal. This experiment, conducted by Arthur Aron, a professor of social psychology at Stony Brook University, was supposed to make people fall in love in 34 minutes. Interestingly enough, after the session, most of the assigned pairs did feel highly attracted to each other. Two couples even got married.

According to Aron, eye-contact facilitates the release of oxytocin. She went on to explain that, “Oxytocin plays an important role here. It is also called the love-hormone, as it is released while having sex, giving birth, breast-feeding, and other activities that involve trust. Oxytocin makes us feel closer to the other person which is crucial in order to establish a long-lasting relationship.”

Bizarre love triangle

The final student presenter, Ethan Yang, focused on the social aspect of love. “As a person who grew up in different countries and cultures, this was what always interested me most. Love means different things depending on the dominant values and norms in society,” he said. Yang claims that from a biological point of view, love’s a phenomenon based on a cocktail of neurochemicals. However, whether we fall in love heavily depends on our surroundings and can be influenced by how we perceive and classify love. This touches, for example, on different images of the family throughout history, gender roles, sexual orientation, and intersexuality. He summarizes this conception by using the triangular theory of love. “There are three main aspects of love: passion, intimacy and commitment. The type of a relationship depends on the mixing proportions of all three. These three aspects alone can be explained with neurochemical processes in the brain. The mixing proportions are shaped by the social context.” Hence, Yang concluded the evening with a synthesis of the previous approaches.

Though the talks didn’t present particularly cutting-edge research, it was an opportunity for to highlight student researchers rather than the usual professor-centered presentations.

Ingrid Birker, science outreach coordinator and organizer of Freaky Fridays, saw the evening as a great success. “I am thrilled about the high quality of the contributions. Another event like this is definitely something worth considering.” There are, however, no concrete plans for another freaky science competition.
Next time your heart flutters and your eyes go googly, remember the biological, psychological, and social aspects going on in your mind and body. There is science to the silly little thing called love.

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In Germany, around a third of all university students spend at least some time during their studies abroad, while the U.S. keeps up with about 20 per cent of its students partaking in the experience. In Canada, even though the tendency is rising, the numbers are less significant, with only around 10 per cent of all university and college students taking part in any study abroad programs. Katie Idle, the coordinator of the Study and Go Abroad Fair organized by Recruit in Canada, told The Daily that there is rising interest in international study experiences. “We started with 400-500 visitors the first year we organized in in Montreal in 2010. Now we expect between 800 and 1000 visitors.”

According to the “Open Doors Report” from 2012, the supply of study abroad programs has become much more diverse and accessible. When studying abroad started becoming popular in the 1970s and 1980s, the duration of the programs was much longer.; however, a recent trend shows that students prefer shorter stays abroad. “The Open Doors Report” points out that 58 per cent of the students going abroad are registered in an 8-weeks-or-shorter summer program. 38 per cent spend between one and two semesters abroad, and only 4 per cent study or work for at least a year in a foreign country. Hence, there is a continuously growing availability of short-term programs, including summer courses, internships, and work opportunities. “Popular, for instance, is teaching English during summer. South Korea and Japan are the current hot spots. But South America is [also] increasingly considered as the place to go,” says Janice Tester, who is a career advisor at McGill’s Career Planning Service (CaPS).

While it seems to be becoming increasingly regular, if not expected, to gain international experience – be it through teaching English in South Korea, doing summer school in Brazil, or studying for a semester in France – it is undoubtedly a matter of finances as well. Depending on what sort of international experience one is opting for, costs can be substantially higher than the fees paid for studying at home. Travel costs, potentially higher living expenses, and supplementary program fees can quickly end up accumulating. The “Open Doors Report” states that there has been a notable increase of institutions offering scholarships and other financial support, from 63 per cent in 2000 to 81 per cent in 2007; however, the Canadian Bureau for International Education’s “World of Learning Report” in 2009 emphasized that for 69 per cent of students, lack of funds or financial support is still the most common barrier to studying or working abroad. “There are increasingly funding and financial support opportunities,” explains Idle. “The government provides more funds in order to make studying abroad attractive for Canadians. But there is an according uptrend among universities and companies, as well.”

Tester adds that while students with more limited funds might not have as many options for their stays abroad, there are still opportunities available for them. For example, some of the working programs, for instance teaching English in Asia, are paid. This might be a viable option if the degrees needed to teach were free. Kester adds, “If a student really wants to go abroad, there normally is a way to make this possible. There are many students consulting me and my colleagues who do not have the required funds themselves.” This statement, however, ignores the fact that many students are not able to spend money or time on study programs, as this would restrict their time to work in order to afford a degree.

“It is also a question of international networks,” says Tester. “Many students going abroad arrange their work and stay via friends, family and acquaintances.” This requires, however, that one already be part of an international network, and know how to use it. Studies have consistently shown that students are more likely to study abroad if they are in an environment that is able to support this decision. A family that is internationally oriented, or is at least approving and encouraging of a stay abroad, might play a substantial role. The findings of the “Open Doors Report” show that racial minorities are underrepresented among the students heading abroad, which is inequitable, considering the benefits that come with taking part in these programs. Since people from different socioeconomic backgrounds might be less likely to take part in these programs, this can lead to social inequality when it comes to getting hired or getting into grad school. Even though universities and the government try to strike a balance by providing students with scholarships or paid working opportunities, the high cost of the programs will remain a problem for many.

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Rad Sex Week is a well-established highlight of the UGE’s and Queer McGill’s activities. The aim of both groups is to enhance the position of women, queer, trans* and intersex people, and to encourage an open conversation on campus. In addition to being home to different working groups, the organizations offer an alternative library, as well as alternative contraception and menstruation products available by donation. During the Rad Sex Week, they work with external partners – including Stella, l’amie de Maimie (an organization representing and supporting sex workers), two Montreal-based drag artists, the Alternative Lifestyles Community Centre, and sexual health educators involved in the Sense Project and Head & Hands – in order to reach a broader audience. On Monday, Clinic L’Actuel will set up HIV tests and be ready to answer questions about sexual health.

The workshops will deal with the political aspects of sex, romance, and different conceptions of intimate relationships, and address questions around sex and safety issues in general. They offer an open and non-judgmental environment for trans* people to discuss shared concerns, and attempt to offer an insight into drag to interested people. Intersexuality and where that fits in our conventional understanding of sexuality is another topic treated during the week. Some of the more hands-on events give an introduction to erotic practices like kink, waxing, and bondage. The Slippery Slope Cabaret on Thursday will be a highlight, according to Sabine Grutter, Resource Coordinator at Queer McGill. As stated on the Facebook event page, the play will be a “sexy and provocative animal-themed extravaganza of burlesque, drag, and sex-positive performance” looking at conservative societal attitudes and fears toward everything that is not heterosexually monogamous.

All workshops will be held in English, with the exception of “Intersex Realities,” which offers the option of whisper translation. The locations are spread over the McGill downtown campus and are mostly wheelchair accessible.

Rad Sex Week’s will have daily free events from February 19 to 27. Check out the Facebook event for more details.

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