History of the Biology Antiracism Committee
The Biology Antiracism Committee (BAC) was formed in the summer of 2020 by members of the Department of Biology to support members of our community who directly have experienced discriminatory behavior, as well as those who are concerned about injustice in the US and world. Composed of staff, students, and faculty, BAC works with the CAS’ D&I Office as well as Boston University Community and Inclusion to ensure that we recruit and support world-class students, staff, and faculty whose experiences and viewpoints embolden the academic endeavor. BAC meets quarterly and structurally has working groups focused on “Inclusive Pedagogy and Mentoring” and “Recruitment”.
What We’ve Done
Over the past year we have sponsored or co-sponsored the following efforts:
- separate town halls for undergraduate and graduate students to express their concerns about racist and other noninclusive behavior at BU and to have the opportunity to offer suggestions to improve diversity within the department
workshops and seminars on: 1) identifying blindspots, 2) the importance of diversity in the scientific community, 3) teaching about racism in the biology classroom, and 4) recognizing racism in science and medicine. - the development of two new courses that focus on being anti-racist in the health sciences: 1) Analyzing Bias and Discrimination in Medicine, Health, and Science, and 2) Institutional Racism in Health and Science.
- funding of an Emerging Scholars Award from the office of Diversity and Inclusion to promote diverse faculty recruitment. The first symposium is planned for September 27, 2021.
- planning for an annual Biology Prospective Scholars Preview event to aid in recruiting a diverse graduate student population.
book club on “Successful STEM Mentoring Initiatives for Underrepresented Students”.
In addition, members of BAC have participated in many other workshops and educational events organized by others at BU, as well as external events, to improve our capacity for antiracist work, including (but not limited to) those focused on Inclusive Pedagogy, Building Inclusive Departmental Culture, Wholistic Graduate Recruitment, Diversifying Seminar Series, Diversifying Faculty Recruitment, “Picture A Scientist” Screening and Campus-Wide Discussion, and Faculty Mentorship.