January 31, 2021

DEI Workshops facilitated by Dr. Aaftaab

In January, SAFS had two diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) workshops facilitated by Dr. Naheed Gina Aaftaab, the Assistant Director of the UW Center for Communication, Difference, and Equity. (Please see flyer below.) We had 36 people registered to at least one of the two workshops. Surveys were sent to registrants beforehand to customize the workshops to the interests and needs of our group as best possible.

 

For the first workshop on “Dominance and difference in knowledge systems”, we read and discussed Biermann’s “Knowledge, Power and Decolonization: Implication for Non-Indigenous Scholars, Researchers and Educators”.

 

Dr. Aaftaab and participants talked about multiple, different forms of knowledge, about how we exist in the world, how we can harness difference instead of suppressing it, and praxis. We contemplated about what constitutes as legitimate knowledge, and how knowledge is not innocent but rather produced and reproduced in systems of power. Towards the end of the discussion, we thought about how alternative ways of thinking show the limit of our own. Not all knowledge systems may necessarily be deemed equal, but a consideration of multiple knowledges is beneficial and important.

 

Even though one of the biggest challenges in de-colonizing knowledge is the synthesis of multiple knowledges, a diversity of knowledge is still good for everyone: at an intellectual level and also to elevate everyone’s humanity – the humanity of the oppressed and the oppressor. At the end, we wer asked to think more practically and more specifically in our field: how would this work for scientific knowledge and for resource management?

 

After this more theoretical workshop, the second workshop focused on “Practicing anti-racism and anti-sexism in education”. Early on in the workshop, Dr. Aaftaab asked us to think about who has access to certain spaces, who is missing and why. Who even perceives this space as one that they can access, and what that could mean for our classrooms, labs, collaborators and so forth. How is our field categorized? Is it a space in which people perceive being able to achieve access? Some people may not even know that they have access!

 

Some participants brought up the importance of naming marginalized groups and thereby being able to center equity for individuals in particular ways. Thinking about this more consciously, naming the intention and the timing of bringing in marginalized groups for input need to be done strategically, meaningfully, and with respect. It cannot be done for the sake of it and at the end of a process.

 

On the topic of microaggressions, participants shared their own experiences in small groups and reported back to the larger group. Discussions helped bring forth examples of how microaggressions are a communicative act that “puts you in your place”, even if done unconsciously. Other times it is an assumption of thinking “they” will not feel comfortable and are thus not included or not addressed directly. These small acts of microaggressions can have large impacts on mental and physical health and work productivity. In the workshop, the courage of those willing to share their experiences, the patience of those who are listening, the bravery of those able to interrupt a microaggression in the moment, and the humbleness of those willing to learn from their mistakes are all commended.

 

At the end, participants were asked to share concrete actions that they can take this quarter, in the next few years, and perhaps even in their lifetimes. Some said they would try tips on how to learn and say correct pronunciation of names, while others said they would try harder to become better listeners.

 

Given the interest and success of these workshops, we anticipate having more workshops and discussions like these in the future.