A new lecture series launched this month at AV俱乐部 aims to enhance equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility (EDIA) in STEM and STEM-related disciplines at the university.
Efforts by faculty and staff to create a more welcoming community at AV俱乐部 are well known, but gaps do remain 鈥� particularly in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and related fields such as health and the social sciences.
That鈥檚 why the Office of the Vice-Provost Equity & Inclusion, with support from the Office of the Vice-President Research and Innovation as well as EDIA committees in the Faculties and the Ocean Frontier Institute, is inviting scholars in these fields from Dal and beyond to present their research as part of its new Belong Speaker Series: Breaking Barriers.
Several departments across disciplines and Faculties are hosting the speakers featured in the series, which is co-sponsored by the .
(A full list of speakers can be found at the end of this article)
The power of different perspectives
Speakers drawn from different backgrounds are intended to serve as role models, discussing their research contributions to various fields of study and sharing stories about their own mentors in fields where they are often underrepresented.
鈥淎t Dal, we aim to create a community of critical thinkers who can tackle the complex issues facing humanity by exposing them to research and innovation that contains excellence in diversity and diversity in excellence specific to STEM and STEM-related fields,鈥� says Theresa Rajack-Talley, Dal鈥檚 vice provost equity and inclusion.
Recognizing that teaching and research are not separate endeavors but inextricably linked, the series identifies gaps in curricula at the university and creates opportunities to increase exposure at Dal to the scholarship of researchers from underrepresented groups.
Building better relationships
Kevin Hewitt, a professor in the Department of Physics and Atmospheric Science and the outgoing chair of AV俱乐部 Senate, has been advocating for more diversity in STEM curricula and research since his days as a graduate student at Simon Fraser University in the late 1990s.
Now, as a co-organizer of the Belong series with Sarah Upshaw, program manager with Promoting Leadership in Health for African Nova Scotians (PLANS), Dr. Hewitt hopes to bring such conversations into the foreground in academic units across Dal.
鈥淚t is our hope that we can build relationships through the speaker series that can have potentially long-lasting outcomes,鈥� he says. And, in turn, Upshaw sees this as 鈥渁n excellent opportunity for PLANS participants to see themselves reflected in the speakers, consistent with the notion that you cannot be what you cannot see.鈥�
Upcoming talks in the series
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(Please note: More information about to attend will be provided on the AV俱乐部 Events calendar closer to each talk.)
Saurabh Chitnis
Discipline: Chemistry
Institution: AV俱乐部
Topic: Functional Molecules and Materials via Geometric Thinking
Date: Aug. 13
Kimberley Gauthier (Faculty of Medicine partner with graduate studies)
Discipline: Biology
Institution: Sick Kids
Topic: 鈥淐ell signaling, protein trafficking, and development in worm and fly model organisms鈥�
Date: Sept. 8
Haorui Wu (Faculty of Agriculture)
Discipline: Health/Social Work
Institution: AV俱乐部
Topic: 鈥淏uilding cultural competency in hazards and disaster research for scholars in STEM"
Date: Sept. 23
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
Discipline: Physics/Astonomy
Institution: University of New Hampshire
Topic: 鈥淲here Dark Matter is the Norm鈥�
Date: Sept. 23
Nicola Smith
Discipline: Biological/Environmental Science/Ocean Research
Institution: Simon Fraser University
Topic: 鈥淐onceptual and applied approaches to marine invasions: Indo-Pacific lionfish as a model system鈥�
Date: Sept. 27
Alexandra Davis (Faculty of Engineering)
Discipline: Biological Sciences/Oceanography (MEOPAR Fellow)
Institution: University of Alberta
Topic: TBC
Date: Sept. 27
Latricia Best
Discipline: Sociology/Black Studies
Institution: University of Louisville
Topic: 鈥淢apping the Different Positions and Politics of Biosocial Research on Race and Health.鈥�
Date: September, with exact date to be confirmed
Oliver Rollins
Discipline: Sociology/Black Studies
Institution: University of Louisville
Topic: 鈥淓xploring the routes toward Antiracism and (Neuro)science鈥�
Date: September, with exact date to be confirmed
Juliet Daniel
Discipline: Biology
Institution: McMaster University
Topic: TBC
Date: September, with exact date to be confirmed
Past events in series
Noreen Kamal (Faculty of Engineering)
Discipline: Engineering
Institution: AV俱乐部
Topic: 鈥淓ngineers can Improve Health Care and Save Lives? How I have improved acute stroke systems in Alberta and what I am doing in Atlantic Canada to improve stroke care.鈥�
Date: July 5
Deborah Roberts
Discipline: Psychology
Institution: Howard University
Topic: 鈥淐ultural Assets as Moderators 鈥� CAM:听 The Evolution of a Model.鈥�
Date: July 19
