Respect—and coping with disrespect

Why is this a must-read?

This information is a must-read because I am a White cis heterosexual man attempting to learn from and to leverage what privilege I have inherited in order to make higher education more inclusive and more supportive of more people from more different backgrounds than ever before.

And so, [those of you looking to fish around for a life narrative, here's my mission statement:] all of my work comes from a place of wanting to provide access, information, and support to as many people in their quest for an education with as many people, as much fairness, and as little prejudice as possible. As a scientist, I wrestle everyday with bias every day--any good scientist will spend much of their time trying to unpack and deconstruct bias to get at an ever bigger, better, more inclusive truth. I am learning this as I go, but I feel very keenly the delicacy of my position. Being somewhat powerless to undo what my ancestors have done, I think I would be a complete failure as a professor and certainly as an advisor if I did not make it my daily, primary business to foster respect and to make education more empowering and more inclusive for more people.

Respect for others—and coping with disrespect

My communication agreement (You'll have to sign this document if you take a class with me. Amendments are welcome. If you want a long, drawn-out and thoughtful message from me, I can do that, but chances are good that face-to-face communication is best)

My agreement for student researchers (Any students joining my research lab have to sign this with whatever amendments they need. Only read if you need to--it's long because I think about this stuff a LOT)

Strong voices coping with dramatic failures of respect (mostly about failures by white men, mostly about failures in science --and I welcome suggestions for what else to share here)

-In praise of prickly women (M. Soledad Caballero and Aimee Knupsky at Inside Higher Ed, original link)

-Tackling the Gender Imbalance in News Media (audio; originally aired May 25, 2018 on WBUR's On Point, original link)

-Women in science: A changing landscape (Ceci, Ginther, Kahn & Williams in Psychological Science in the Public Interest, original link)

-The awakening: Women and power in the academy (multiple authors originally downloaded from the Chronicle of Higher Education, original link)

-The dangerous romance of male genius (Megan Garber at the Atlantic, original link)

-Rid science of the harassers (Kathryn Clancy at National Geographic, original link)

-What I wish my White colleagues knew (Results of survey by the Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy, original link)

-10 things I wish my White teacher knew (Joy Mohammed at Wear Your Voice, original link)

-Why talk about Whiteness? We can't talk about racism without it (Emily Chiarello, Reprinted with permission of Teaching Tolerance, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center. original link: https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/summer-2016/why-talk-about-whiteness)

-"Dear White Boss..." (Kevin Caver & Ancella Livers at Harvard Business Review, original link)

Grinnell College offices supporting various sorts of respect

-Center for Religion, Spirituality, & Social Justice (respect for just about every facet of student/human experience you can imagine)

-Title IX (sexual respect)

-Student Assistance (respect for non-academic, personal obstacles or crises)

-Intercultural Affairs (respect for personal/cultural/gender/sexual diversity)

-International Student Affairs (respect for cultural diversity across national differences)

-Accessibility and Disability Resources (respect for diverse abilities)

-Health & Wellness (respect for the fact that you are more than just a reading-writing machine)

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