Chem4REAL Podcast: Episode 6
In this episode, Dr. Bridget Gourley, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Dean of the Faculty at DePauw University in Greencastle Indiana interviews Dr. Joe Reczek, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Denison University in Granville Ohio. Together they explore their classrooms and campuses from the lens of racial equity and provide simple yet concrete strategies to becoming an anti-racist.
What can faculty do to be more anti-racist?
Two faculty, Dr. Joe Reczek and Dr. Bridget Gourley, discuss discuss small concrete steps to being more inclusive in their classrooms and laboratories. The conversation spans inviting students to engage in research with them, thinking about how each student stays connected to science and the department during the pandemic, and the #ShutdownSTEM movement following the horrific killing of George Floyd in police custody.
Through their conversation we learn how two faculty members are applying the broader mantra from sustainability, ‘think globally, act locally’ as their own personal call to continually make individual contributions to diversity, equity and inclusion, particularly in STEM. Both recognize the importance of helping students, particularly students of color, first-generation, and students with other historically underrepresented identities develop a sense of belonging and connection to the lab. As Joe stated, “… if certain numbers of my students are expending more energy than others, just to be in the classroom and be a part of the group and contribute, then I should be expending energy to try and make that experience more equitable as their professor, as a professional.”
Dr. Reczek makes himself intentionally available to students and acknowledges the difficulties of racism in this country. He explores how racism spills over into science, who gets to do science, and what type of scientific problems get attention. Making sure his students understand that he recognizes the discipline he loves so much has much work to do to become the inclusive space he wants and that he is committed to work that moves science forward on the anti-racist continuum.
In summarizing Bridget captured many of Joe’s points when she said, “Our students that are students underrepresented in the discipline need to hear us say it’s not okay that they have not been welcomed. And our other students need to see the majority faculty lead by example, to help every student sense he or she is welcome. The fidelity of support that comes in the moments of interactions with our students should not be squandered to cover one more topic that a student could read about later. We need to make space in our courses, curricula, and laboratories for difficult conversations, not just once for #ShutdownSTEM, rather routinely. We need to be sure we feature the work of black chemists in our courses. We need to be attentive to our needs and the needs of others.”
Listen to the podcast for these helpful suggestions and more. Also, if you are interested in engaging undergraduate students in research in the classroom, lab or community, then the full Chem4REAL podcast series is for you. The podcast conversations provide another avenue for faculty development and growth as we discuss research equity, sustainability, logistics, advocacy, proposal or publication writing, and much more- all with an eye toward increasing access to this high impact practice and the discipline we love.
If you are interested in listening to the full episode, you can link directly to it here. The transcript for the episode can be downloaded here: Chem4REAL Podcast Transcript Episode 6. You can explore all of our episodes at the bottom of this post or you can search for the Chem4REAL podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts. New episodes are released monthly. As always, please be sure to subscribe and leave a rating as it helps others to find the podcast. We hope to hear your thoughts!
https://anchor.fm/curchem
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