The Ethic of Care in the Academy: Understanding and Overcoming the Culture of Silence (Part II)
Title: The Ethic of Care in the Academy: Understanding and Overcoming the Culture of Silence (Part II)
Moderator: Dr. Tahira Reid Smith Panelists: Dr. Cesunica “Sunni” Ivey, Dr. Aziza Belcher Platt, Dr. Elizabeth Briody, Dr. Colin Hisey, and other guests.
Abstract
In light of the recent suicides of 2 Black Chemistry academics (both graduate students) within the last week (Samantha “Sammy” Mensah and Nic Watkins), the founders of Black in Engineering recognize the need for an ethic of care in academia. In the second of a two-part panel series, we will delve into understanding the academic climate and culture that may exacerbate challenges associated with marginalized, underrepresented, and vulnerable members of academia.
Learning objectives
Participants will: 1) gain a better understanding and some insights on systemic issues that can exist in academic environments and how those issues can affect marginalized groups; 2) further learn ways that support can be sought out and received for mental health challenges due to workplace/academic stress; 3) identify ways to safely speak up about those who are vulnerable.
Learning outcomes
Attendees should know the answers to these questions:
-What is the culture of silence?
-Why does the culture of silence exist?
-Are there tell-tale signs that future students, postdocs, and faculty should take note of during their time at a university or before they arrive?
-How do we protect people who are subject to invisible and visible workplace “violence”?
-How do we protect the people that speak up?
-How do we establish an accountability system for misuse/abuse of power?
Resources
- If you want to check out the UConn Wellness Collection resources: s.uconn.edu/wellnesslibrary
- https://the-trajectory.teachable.com/courses also from Dr. Monica Cox
- https://www.drmonicacox.com/accomplice-academy
- Academic Wheel of Priviledge- https://ukrio.org/ukrio-resources/research-integrity-resources/equality-diversity-and-inclusion/academic-wheel-of-privilege/
Book
– Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do (Issues of Our Time)
Video
| Moderator:
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Dr. Tahira Reid Smith is a Professor at Penn State Univ. in Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Design and the Associate Department Head for Inclusive Research and Education. She is also a co-founder of Black in Engineering. Her research involves the quantification and integration of human-centered considerations in engineering systems and/or the design process. Funded by the NSF, Procter & Gamble, and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, her projects involving the intersection of diversity and mechanical engineering have been featured in National Geographic, NBC’s Today Show, Essence Magazine, Reuters, and National Public Radio. Her story about her double dutch jump rope invention is featured in two children’s books and was on the 2017 New York State Common Core Exam. Dr. Reid Smith obtained BS and MS degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, a Ph.D. in Design Science from the Univ. of Michigan-Ann Arbor, and a postdoc at Iowa State Univ. LinkedIn | Twitter |
| Panelist:
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Dr. Cesunica “Sunni” Ivey is an award-winning assistant professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the Univ. of California-Berkeley, and the principal investigator of the Air Quality Modeling and Exposure Lab, where she is an emerging leader in the areas of air quality modeling & applications and community-scale air pollution exposure assessment. She earned her Ph.D. in environmental engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, was a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Physics at the Univ. of Nevada-Reno, and was a visiting scientist at NOAA’s Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory. Her research interests lie at the nexus of air pollution science and engineering and environmental justice and she partners with community organizations to prevent the over-industrialization of already overburdened neighborhoods. LinkedIn |
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Dr. Aziza Belcher Platt a licensed psychologist providing culturally-responsive individual and group psychotherapy, family therapy, and psychological assessment. I treat various concerns and specialize in racial-cultural issues, trauma, and grief. I was inspired to get into mental health to contribute to efforts to make therapy more acceptable, accessible, and affordable particularly for marginalized communities. Social justice and liberation are an indelible part of my work. For patients, I aim to eliminate barriers, structural and otherwise, to seeking and receiving quality and culturally competent mental health care especially for underrepresented and under-served communities. As a practitioner, I strive to help the field and practitioners become increasingly more culturally aware and responsive. As a scientist, I focus on health disparities and evidence-based research to inform culturally responsive clinical practice. LinkedIn |
Panelist: |
Anthropologist Dr. Elizabeth Briody is the founder of Cultural Keys, a consultancy that helps organizations transform their culture and improve their effectiveness. She has had a longstanding interest in organizational culture and change, both in the U.S. and globally. Her projects have spanned many industries including automotive, health care, research institutions, aerospace, insurance, consumer products, and petrochemicals. She currently partners with the firm Relations Research on projects in the private sector. Briody also served as a Co-Principal Investigator on a five-year NSF RED grant to “Revolutionize Engineering Education.” Prior to establishing her consultancy, she had an illustrious 24-year career as an anthropologist at General Motors Research.
In 2020, Briody was honored by the Society for Applied Anthropology’s Bronislaw Malinowski award for lifetime achievement. She is Past President of the National Association for the Practice of Anthropology and completed a three-year term as Secretary of the American Anthropological Association in 2021. She now leads the Anthropology Career Readiness Network which brings together more than 20 anthropology associations and 400 volunteers to improve student career preparation. Her recent books include The Cultural Dimension of Global Business, now in its 9th ed., Cultural Change from a Business Anthropology Perspective and Transforming Culture which was awarded the Robert B. Textor award for Excellence in Anticipatory Anthropology from the American Anthropological Association. Briody holds an M.A. and a Ph.D. in Anthropology from The University of Texas at Austin, a B.A., magna cum laude from Wheaton College (Norton, MA), and a French Baccalauréat, mention bien. LinkedIn
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Panelist: |
Dr. Colin Hisey earned B.Eng. and M.S. degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of Dayton, where he was part of the Multi-Ethnic Engineers program, and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from The Ohio State University in 2018. During his PhD, he was a graduate teaching assistant and a Whitaker International Fellow at CEIT in Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain. He then spent three years as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Auckland in New Zealand where he helped establish and run the Hub for Extracellular Vesicle Investigations. He returned to Ohio State in 2021 to join the inaugural cohort of LEGACY Postdoctoral Scholars and was recently awarded a MOSAIC K99/R00 from NIBIB. He continues to develop applications related to micro-nanotechnology, extracellular vesicles, and machine learning, and strives to be an advocate and ally for DEI efforts in STEM. LinkedIn |
