June, 2020

June monthly update from your Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Committee (compiled by Sophie Coulson)! Read below to see who we are, what we've been up to, and opportunities and resources relevant to you.

Our Mission

The Committee is charged with the tasks of collecting community-sourced concerns, leading community-wide events around issues of diversity and inclusion, and advising the Chairs on possible actions. As such, the committee serves as a central conduit for issues related to harassment and discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, country of national origin, visa status, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ability handicap, pregnancy status and other legally protected categories. The committee spearheads initiatives and recommends actions to support and retain a diverse and inclusive community of scholars, students, and staff.

Our Members

  • Steve Wofsy (Faculty)
  • Marine Denolle (Faculty)
  • Sophie Coulson (Graduate Student)
  • Ana Gonzalez-Nayeck (Graduate Student)
  • Maddie Goldberg (Undergraduate Student)
  • Elida Kocharian (Undergraduate Student)
  • Jonathan Proctor (Postdoc)
  • Jessica Smith (Postdoc)
  • Jill Larson (Staff)
  • Esther James (Staff)

Feel free to reach out to any of our members, or voice DIB related ideas, comments or concerns on our anonymous form here.

EPS/ESE Statement of Shared Values

Our community has adopted a Shared Values statement, which is posted publicly on the EPS Department Resources page. We hope this statement will serve as a guide for the EPS/ESE community and visitors to the department.

DIB Focussed Slack Channels

We are setting up slack channels in the Harvard EPS/ESE Slack to continue conversations from the breakout rooms of our EPS, ESE & DIB Committee Anti-Racism Town Hall (June 24th):

#diversity_undegrad_recruitment
#diversity_grad_recruitment
#diversity_colloquia
#diversity_updating_imagery
#diversity_events-training
#diversity_history_of_racism
 
Each channel will be assigned a DIB committee member as a point of contact. This structure should ease the flow of information between the community and DIB committee, and help us make recommendations to the chairs.

Please indicate your interest in joining a channel through the feedback form for the event that Ann circulated, or by adding yourself to the channels in the Harvard EPS/ESE Slack.

Feel free to use the #diversity_general channel to share resources and conversations that pertain to multiple topics or more general issues.

(Please contact Sabinna at scappo@fas.harvard.edu if you are having trouble joining the Harvard EPS/ESE workspace.)

Bi-weekly Office Hours

During office hours we will continue to discuss articles that shed light on a range of issues associated with diversity, inclusion and belonging. We will always reserve the first half hour to discuss any specific topics brought to us by participants.

Our next office hour will be held on Friday, July 10th from 3:00-4:00pm.

Look out for an email from Ana Gonzalez-Nayeck with a zoom link and article for discussion.

EPS/ESE Anti-Racism Reading Group

A note from Hannah Nesser, Kaitlyn Loftus, Anna Waldeck, Aleyda Treviño, Colleen Golja, and Haley Olson

We are launching an EPS/ESE Anti-Racism Reading Group. We will use this space to learn and to generate further actionable items specific to our labs and our department. We are committed to making this a group where people can make mistakes as long as they are willing to challenge themselves to unlearn their biases. We encourage White-identifying members of our community, in particular, to join us in educating ourselves on race and racism.

We hope that these conversations can span a range of job titles while remaining cognizant of power dynamics inherent to both academia and the workplace in general. We’d like to reiterate, in particular, that faculty members are welcome to attend. Discussion subgroups including supervisors (of any form) will be opt-in to ensure all participants feel comfortable speaking openly.

 

The group will meet once every three weeks on Fridays at 4:00 pm ET, alternating between longer reading materials (books, etc) and shorter materials (academic articles, essays, etc). Our readings all concern race, racism, the supporting sociopolitical systems, and other intersectional issues. We will do our best to include specific content warnings.

 

Our next meeting will be: Friday, July 17, 4:00-5:00 pm on So You Want to Talk About Race, by Ijeoma Oluo (Boston Public Library, Other Area Libraries, Harvard Library).

 

You can sign up for the group’s email list here.

Please feel free to contact us with any questions, comments, concerns, or feedback. Presently we are working to revise our mission statement following community feedback.

 

DIB Movie Night July 9th - Picture a Scientist

Next Thursday (July 9th) at 7pm we'll host our first DIB movie night! We'll host a Zoom screening of the documentary film 'Picture a Scientist', blurb below.

Look out for an email from Elida Kocharian with more details.

 

PICTURE A SCIENTIST chronicles the groundswell of researchers who are writing a new chapter for women scientists. Biologist Nancy Hopkins, chemist Raychelle Burks, and geologist Jane Willenbring lead viewers on a journey deep into their own experiences in the sciences, ranging from brutal harassment to years of subtle slights. Along the way, from cramped laboratories to spectacular field stations, we encounter scientific luminaries - including social scientists, neuroscientists, and psychologists - who provide new perspectives on how to make science itself more diverse, equitable, and open to all.

https://www.pictureascientist.com/

Virtual Babyminding/Story Time

We appreciate the difficulties associated with juggling work and family at this time. If you think it would be helpful for your kids to participate in a one-on-one or small group story reading activity via zoom, or you’d love to read a story, please sign up here. We’ll pair you via email with someone in the community.

Contact Ana for more information: gonzalezvaldes@g.harvard.edu

Call for Proposals for Community-led DIB Initiatives

Is there a DIB related speaker you’ve always wanted to hear from, or a discussion group you’d like to plan? The committee would love to support community-lead proposals for DIB related groups, events and outings.

Funding for events may be available once on-campus activities resume.

Contact Sophie: slcoulson@g.harvard.edu

Resources From Our Community

SEAS & FAS Division of Science Community Conversation: Two Pandemics (June 2nd)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dD-bcK-lxH4

 

Black Students Association's Black Lives Matter Town Hall (June 1st)

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=679680065930938

 

#ShutDownSTEM Town Hall (June 10th) - see a summary here.

 

EPS, ESE & DIB Committee Anti-Racism Town Hall (June 24th) - see slides with link to notes here.

 

RESPONSE Peer Counselling have compiled a document of resources and action items pertaining to sexual assault and harassment at Harvard, here.

Recent Articles of Interest

"What Black scientists want from colleagues and their institutions"

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01883-8

 

"Time tax put on scientists of color"

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01920-6


"In the wake of COVID-19, academia needs new solutions to ensure gender equity"

https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2020/06/16/2010636117


"Take our postdoctoral-researcher survey - Results from the inaugural study will reveal crucial information about the deepest worries, hopes and triumphs of postdocs around the world."

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01863-y

shutdownstem_epsdialogueaction_summary.pdf282 KB
finalslides_anti-racismtownhall-6_24_20-2.pptx71 KB