Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Below is a sample of resources that individuals can use to better understand their own internal biases and unconscious racism.

LinkedIn Learning Modules - Please note that resources from LinkedIn Learning are available to all Penn affiliated individuals by logging in with your PennKey and Password.

• Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging, by Pat Wadors
• Cultivating Cultural Competence and Inclusion by Mary-Frances Winter
• Confronting Bias: Thriving Across Our Differences by Vernã Myers and Arianna Huffington
• Confronting Racism, with Robin DiAngelo by Robin DiAngelo

Articles:

• My Heart is Broken, by Corrinne Fahl (PSoM office of Diversity and Inclusion)
• Talking about Race (National Museum of African American History & Culture)
• What it Means to be Anti-racisit, by Anna North (Vox)
• Did you really just say that?, by Rebecca Clay (American Psychological Association)
• The case for Black with a Capital B, by Lori Tharps (NYT, opinion)
• What is Owed by Nikole Hannah-Jones

Articles about Race in Science and higher academia:

• Race, Ethnicity, and NIH awards (Science)
• Racism in Science: We need to act now (eLife)
• Guidelines Toward Inclusive Practices in Academics by eLife Community Ambassadors 
• Science Still Bears the Fingerprints of Colonialism by Rohan Deb Roy (Smithsonian)

Radio, podcast & audio articles

• Black at Mizzou (APM Reports)
• No Justice, No Peace (On the Media)
• Code Switch Podcast

We also recommend exploring the Implicit Association Tests (IAT) available through Harvard's Project Implicit.

Below is a series of activities that are taking place within our department to change our culture. If you would like to get involved with any of the activities, please reach out to Joshua Darfler for more information.

Group Trainings:

• Departmental wide racial literacy training with Lion's Story*
• Faculty anti-bias training
• Inclusive Teaching Training (via CTL)

Iconography in our buildings:

In Fall 2019 the Department of Biology began working to assess all portraits, busts, and pieces of art located in the historical Leidy Laboratory building. While new images have been identified, implementing the new gallery structure is currently on hold while the campus remains depopulated due to COVID-19. We hope to be able to complete this project shortly after staff fully return to campus.

Incident Reporting

If you have been harmed or for any reason feel uncomfortable or unsafe and would like to speak with someone confidentially or report an incident, click here for a list of the resources available.

If you have been involved in an incident of bias, either as a harmed party or as a witness, and you would like to make a report, you can do so using a Bias Incident Reporting Form.

For assistance contact Erol Akçay, departmental ombudsman, but please note that you can also reach out to any the department's faculty or staff.

*click here to watch a TedMed talk from Lion's Story Founder Howard Stevenson

The Department of Biology is an active participant in the discourse surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion on Penn's campus. Below are some items that Penn Bio has recently been involved with on a College or University level.

• Early work on diversifying the iconography in Leidy Labs led to a University wide effort to reassess all images on campus and to create more welcoming environments.
• Penn Biology spearheaded the SAS Graduate Division to adopt the formal policy that "arrest records that occurred due to Black Lives Matter protest related civil disobedience will not adversely affect graduate admissions."
• Junhyong Kim, Professor and Chair of Biology, has been named chair of the new Penn committee charged with applying to NIH's new Faculty Institutional Recruitment for Sustainable Transformation (FIRST) grant program.

We also recommend you visit our Student Resources page for links to additional Penn Resources around community and inclusivity.

Incident Reporting

If you have been harmed or for any reason feel uncomfortable or unsafe and would like to speak with someone confidentially or report an incident, click here for a list of the resources available.

If you have been involved in an incident of bias, either as a harmed party or as a witness, and you would like to make a report, you can do so using a Bias Incident Reporting Form.

We encourage you to explore the various community outreach activities happening in our department and to get involved!

Learn more here - https://www.bio.upenn.edu/outreach