A new lecture series launched this month at 国民彩票 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 国民彩票 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 国民彩票 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 国民彩票 Events calendar closer to