Physics and Astronomy Equity Week (PEW)

Friday - May 3rd, 

• Opening & DAC introduction (12-12:30pm; lunch provided!)

• Equity and Inclusion Committee update (12:30-12:45pm)

• Q&A, and Physics + Astronomy Department Town Hall (12:45-1:30pm)

Monday May 6th, 

• Against Carceral Tech (student group at CMU) (12:30-1:30pm; lunch provided at 12:15pm)

• Discussion (1:30-2pm)

• Yaswant Devarakonda, Talk discussing the Decadal survey’s EDI initiative, and how Congress is responding to them, and how the community responds to them (2-3pm; snacks provided)

• Individual meetings with Yaswant (3-4pm)

Tuesday May 7th, 

• Diana Zúñiga: Workshop on "Organizational Health and Healing: Sharing Power Through Equitable Participatory Practices" (lunch at 12:45pm; workshop 1-2pm)

• Round Table discussion and closing (2:30-3pm; snacks provided)

Yaswant Devarakonda  (American Astronomical Society, John N. Bahcall Public Policy Fellow)

Diana Zúñiga (Tres Lunas Consulting, Founder)

Direction Action Coalition (DAC) is a grassroots organization founded by and for early career scientists in our department. Comprising of a community of graduate students and postdocs with a wide range of identities–LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, and allies–our campaign revolves around, and is motivated by the following principles: 

• Community building & engagement

• Consensus-based decision making

• The equitable (re-)distribution of educational & financial resources

Since DAC’s inception roughly a year ago, our work has provided other early career scientists in the department with the opportunity and resources needed to successfully create, sustain, and navigate social & professional relationships within the department community. This process, which has manifested itself through town halls and other informational/community events, has also brought awareness to some of the dynamically complex inequities that negatively impact members from historically excluded and presently marginalized communities. We believe that it is essential to continuously raise awareness of and discuss these issues. We believe that it is time for the rest of the departmental community to hear and learn about these issues.

Women and Minorities in Physics (WMP) is an organization founded by graduate students with the goal of fostering a community that promotes the advancement of women and minority physicists. We offer outreach and mentorship opportunities, invoke departmental change, inform about diversity issues, and build a supportive environment for women and minorities.

We present the Physics and Astronomy Equity Week (PEW), from May 3rd - 7th, 2024. We are hosting this week-long conference centering on the subject of equity.  To facilitate this conference, we have organized and invited speakers from various professional backgrounds. One of our goals is for participants to learn about how complex and interconnected our community members’ experiences are to the inequities and injustices experienced by other communities throughout the world. We will take the time to learn about consensus-based decision making, to participate in community discussions (e.g., town halls), and to learn about how policy will shape the future of our field(s). We will engage in the discussion of current events and the role of physics & astronomy – both historically and in the current epoch – in the oppression of marginalized communities both in the U.S. and abroad. We welcome you to join us in this event.

Conduct

We aim to foster a productive, collaborative experience at PEW for all participants. We do not tolerate the following:

• Harassment and bullying

• Violating the ‘stack,’ or the ordered list of speakers, repeatedly

• Screen-shotting or screen-recording at any point of the conference without the expressed permission from speakers

• Spam in chat windows or contact forms

We have a zero-tolerance policy for harassment and bullying, which we define as:

• Negative comments about race, ethnicity, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, disability, age, religion, physical appearance, country of origin, citizenship among other axes of identity.

• Intimidation or threats, including of the moderators

• Misusing screen-sharing capabilities

• Sharing images especially to threaten or sexually harass, or any unwelcome sexual attention

• Ad hominem attacks

 The above guidelines apply to all interactions within the boundaries of in person PEW events and Zoom rooms. Participants are also expected to follow the department code of conduct (provided here).

Meeting Policy

We ask that in order to continue to keep this conference accessible, you:

• Do not interrupt participants when they are speaking

• Mute your microphone when you are not speaking

• Respect the speakers and your fellow attendees and their needs

Two moderators will be active during the events to assist with needs and to moderate in-person discussions, control screen-sharing and other security issues.

Enforcement

Violations of the code of contact will be dealt with as per University of Pittsburgh Policies, the event and the department code of conduct (provided here). Reports of harassment should be made to the Office for Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion report form (provided here). Please contact the organizers for questions and comments.

Physics Department Equity and Inclusion Committee - Anonymous Feedback Form

Office for Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion