The Faculty’s Diversity Officer and Diversity Sounding Board jointly organise the event: ‘Faces of Science Park: Diversity and Inclusion in Science’. During this event we invite all students and colleagues at Science Park to participate in workshops and to join in our conversations about how we might enhance the diversity and inclusion of our community and the work that we do.
| Date | 5 February 2020 |
|---|---|
| Time | 12:00 -18:30 |
Why bother about diversity? Will not the smartest people end up in science or at the top anyways? Or do we still need to critically assess our culture of inclusion/exclusion and review our policies? Missing or leaving out on groups of people because of their gender, disabilities, background, sexual orientation or otherwise does not only do injustice and harm to these groups, it also hinders the creativity and potential impact of our joint work in education and research. Evidence shows that science and teamwork benefit from greater diversity and inclusion.
Fortunately, there is broad consensus within the Amsterdam Science Park community that diversity and inclusion are important and deserve more than lip service. There is room for improvement, yet we also strongly believe that next to discussing and making policy for further increasing the diversity and inclusion in our midst, we should also celebrate the vibrant and diverse community of students and staff that we already are.
The event is open to all staff members and students of the Faculty of Science and Science Park. There is a kids daycare facility set up during the event. If you want to make use of that, you can make that known when registering.
Wednesday, 5 February 2020
12.00 – 18.30
Science Park 904 – Main hall
11.30 Registration (Main hall Science Park 904)
12.00 Opening by the faculty’s Dean Peter van Tienderen
12.10 Welcome by the faculty’s Diversity officer Machiel Keestra
12.15 BetaBreak – public debate on ‘'Why bother about diversity? The smartest will survive our selection processes anyway.’
13:15 Lecture + discussion by Dr Sennay Ghebreab (Neuroinformatics, Amsterdam University College) ‘Colorblindness and Diversity in Science: why our Algorithms are Biased?’
14:00 Coffee break (Start information market)
14:15 workshops and excursion
15:45 Lecture + discussion by Dr Marieke Slootman (Social change and conflict, VU Amsterdam) ‘Possibilities and challenges for evidence-based diversity policy at the university.’
16:30 Launch of Social Engagement Centre Amsterdam
17.00 Musical intermezzo by Jawa Manla (Syrian ud) & Modar Salamah (percussion)
17:30-18:30 Drinks and fingerfood
Application for the workshops is closed now. Please check at the desk if there is still some place left for the workshops.
Bystander intervention - Our Bodies Our Voice
This workshop develops participants’ skills to intervene in a variety of challenging situations and strengthens assertiveness in both personal and external experiences by practicing real life scenarios and case studies in groups. We will provide and discuss productive terminology to prevent victim-blaming and hurtful language, sexual violence myths to dismantle stigma and stereotypes, basic active listening skills to prepare you for difficult situations, and inform you on professional help-seeking options in Amsterdam in the event of both emergent and non-emergent circumstances.
How do I make educational material accessible? – Richard Valkering
By taking into account a number of guidelines, educational material can be made accessible to students with a functional disability. Examples are the correct use of headings in Word, or the guideline that color should not be the only distinguishing feature. This workshop takes you along the 8 guidelines that will make documents, presentations and other communications a lot more accessible!
Unconscious bias and intercultural communication
Research and education increasingly implies collaborating and communicating in diverse groups. This creates some challenges for optimal functioning. In this workshop participants will learn about how unconscious cognitive processes produce biases and prejudices in our attitudes and behavior. Fortunately, there are some strategies that can help to mitigate those, contributing to more adequate intercultural communication.
Anna’s Tuin & Ruigte: a guided tour on biodiversity and diversity in our community garden (excursion)
Participants will visit the garden at Science Park and hear about the efforts to involve the citizens of the neighbourhood in this project. What lessons does the project provide for our thoughts about the biodiversity and the social diversity involved in it?