Some last updates for the workshop

To all workshop registrants,

Thank you so much for registering for our NSF-funded, Beckman-supported workshop on problematizing incivility in STEM contexts! Here are some final details about the workshop.

First, please make sure to sign up for the Slack workspace if you haven’t already – that is a space that people can coordinate travel plans and discuss possible session topics. I will also be checking that space all workshop long for feedback as we go along to help motivate topic tables for lunches, and to inform our debrief exercises. This space will be crucial for any activities inspired by interactions in the workshop – I hope we are able to keep the momentum going and use the space for thinking about our research and practice.

Next, if you are driving, please note that there is limited parking in the small lot to the immediate east of the building. However, directly across Mathews there is a parking garage. There are also plenty of spaces for bicycles along the southeast edge of the building. Here is a website with more complete travel information.

If you are unfamiliar with the Beckman Institute, you can enter through any door, but the auditorium and room 1005 – the main rooms of the workshop – are in the southwest portion of the building on the first floor. There will be signage directing you there. If you are coming from the Hampton Inn please note there is no north entrance – I recommend you cross University at Goodwin then enter Beckman from the east.

A few other smaller notes:

  • The workshop starts promptly at 8am, but Beckman’s doors open at 7:30am and you can arrive any time after that. Registration will be open and the food will be out by then so please feel free to get started on breakfast and situate yourselves.
  • The first two sessions on the first morning are very important and set the stage for the whole workshop. Please make every effort to be there!
  • If you would like to support our efforts at sustainability/not burdening you with unnecessary workshop swag, feel free to bring your own lanyard. (If you forget, no worries, we will have some!)
  • Please limit your fragrance use to create an accessible environment for those sensitive to odors and certain chemicals.
  • Panelists who have slides – please arrive ready to test your computer and/or slides in the break before your panel.
  • We have several attendees with celiac disease, and several more with anaphylactic food allergies. Our caterers will be making every effort to reduce cross-contamination and avoid the allergies we know of. Please help us by being very careful with the food – please use only the utensils intended for each dish so that cross-contamination does not occur. Getting glutened can ruin an affected person’s week, and allergen exposures can be deadly.
  • We have been working hard to ensure that the food is as accommodating as possible for as many people as possible. Meals will all be vegetarian or pescatarian. If for any reason you don’t feel like you’re getting enough to eat or your needs are not being met, please just come find me and I’ll make sure you get taken care of.
  • We will have an informal listener available for a few hours each afternoon if anyone feels they need comfort or space, or additional time to process their own feelings. This is different from a therapeutic space with a true therapist-client relationship, but still can offer a kind ear should you need it.

Changes to the workshop agenda to address harm to Indigenous peoples

I have made some changes to the workshop agenda in order to make specific room to think about and address harm to Indigenous people caused by invoking “civility” and “incivility” in this workshop. One of the goals of this workshop has always been to problematize these terms, and to think about who they get weaponized against. However I (KC) was thinking of these issues generally in terms of how they affect certain racial groups and other marginalized folks. I did not consider the very specific harms they cause because of the way that being “uncivilized” has been a justification for genocide in the US and in other colonized countries, and that the term “civilized” has been used to pit different Indigenous peoples against each other.

For more feel free to check out the Twitter thread I wrote on this earlier this week here. I don’t want to name the two folks who came to me with their concerns about this term because to do so risks their own emotional harm, but I do want to deeply thank them for coming to me and giving me the opportunity to address this.

One of the changes I have made is creating a session immediately after the opening remarks to address the historical and racial harm of the term “incivility,” particularly to Indigenous peoples. I have also spoken to the advisory board so that we can think on how further to address this concern, and I will be discussing this with the moderators of the sessions in a call next week.

Below is the revised agenda for the workshop. I welcome additional thoughts and feedback, especially in Slack. Please note that registration ends very soon!

DRAFT AGENDA

Day 1 (Thursday October 17, 2019)  at the Beckman Institute
Time Topic Location
8:00am Registration Hall outside auditorium
8-8:10am Welcome, description of the scope of conference. (Kate Clancy) Room 1005
8:10-9am Discussion and listening sessions on the historical and racial harm of the term “incivility;” discussion of various terms surrounding incivility (e.g., disrespect, microaggression, abuse, victimization, ostacization, bullying, intimidation, rudeness) (Kate Clancy and xxx) Room 1005
9-9:45am Session on crowdsourcing our values, behaviors, and expectations for the workshop. (Kate Clancy) Room 1005
10-11:30am Panel Discussion and Q&A: “Why Care About Respect”.  Moderator: Kate Clancy (Illinois). Speakers: Sarah Sobieraj (Tufts), Gloria Gonzales-Morales (University of Guelph), Kristina Larsen (private practice, employment law)

·       This session will address why low level, rude interactions matter; why clearly defining terms helps us avoid weaponizing these terms against marginalized groups; creates space for attendees to address what they find most important in this conversation.

Room 1005
11:30am-12pm Break  
12-1pm Working Lunch: emergent topic tables based on morning Room 1005
1-2:30pm Panel Discussion and Q&A: “Power and Incivility”.  Moderator: Lilia Cortina (Michigan). Speakers: Johnny E. Williams (Trinity College), Heather Metcalf (AWIS), Chicora Martin (Mills)

·       This session will address how power helps define workplace interactions, the role of coercive power in incivility, how lived experiences and identities shape the ways folks target and are targeted by uncivil practices.

Room 1005
2:30-3pm Break  
3-4:30 Panel Discussion and Q&A: “Truth and Incivility”.  Moderator: David Karpf (GWU). Speakers: Adrienne Massanari (UIC), Kathleen Stansberry (Elon), Stephani Page (Duke)

·       This session will address how truth can get coopted by those in power, and/or how organizations differentiate between incivility and hate speech and speaking truth to power. In this particular moment of disinformation/fake news (or doxxing, trolling, or other abuse) as a response to any critical feedback, how can we find a space to talk about engaging in a healthy way with each other (especially when some people in power are invested in not doing so).

Room 1005
4:30-5pm Debrief/listening sessions as needed  
5-6pm Heavy apps/dinner if room in the budget Room 1005

 

Day 2 (Friday October 18, 2019)  at the Beckman Institute
Time Topic Location
8:00am Introduction and debrief exercise on day 1; Working Breakfast, with restorative practices follow up on behaviors/expectations or something else. Room 1005
9:00am Panel Discussion and Q&A: “Incivility Consequences”.   Moderator: Jay Rosenstein (Illinois). Speakers: Vicki Magley (Connecticut), David G. Embrick (Connecticut)

·       This session will help us broaden our definitions of consequences and impacted parties, consider collective fallout and broader community consequences, disciplinary consequences, and/or effects on diversity, productivity, creativity, and innovation.

Room 1005
10:30am Break  
11:00am Experiencing restorative practices. Mikhail Lyubansky (Illinois) and David Karp (University of San Diego)  
12:30pm Working Lunch: emergent topics and/or space to react to prior experiential session. Room 1005
1:30pm Two simultaneous sessions, organized via Slack by registrants 1005/Auditorium/Atrium?
2:30pm Debrief exercise on day 2; Small group discussion of paths forward Room 1005
3:00pm Report out from Breakout Groups Room 1005
3:30pm Adjourn  

 

Spotlight on our diversity award

A few announcements today! Registration is chugging along – if you haven’t registered yet you should. I also want to direct you to some information about hotels and travel. The weekend of our workshop is Homecoming – hotels are filling so you need to book yours now!

1) Spotlight on our diversity award.

One of the things I’m proudest of is that we are able to reimburse up to $500 of travel and lodging costs to any registrant identifying as underrepresented, or coming from a small regional or community college. Please note that there is nothing you need to do to “prove” your identity – just check the box on the registration if you identify in this way. I’m batch emailing folks every few days who do so to get you set up with Beckman’s front office so that reimbursement happens as swiftly as possible.

You also do not need to identify as a scholar or faculty to identify! Students, trainees, administrators, practitioners, and other staff absolutely qualify. Take us up on this! I know we won’t regret it!

2) Scholars in the news.

I wanted to share with you all a talk Dr. Nicole Cooke just gave on “Defeating the Bullies and Trolls in the Library” at an Inclusive Excellence research symposium. Dr. Cooke is a friend and colleague and her perspective was crucial in the formation of this workshop. She is unable to attend, but, as she says, “this is the talk I would have given if I could join you.” Her talk starts at about four minutes in after a lovely introduction.

3) Slack workspace and bottom-up sessions.

While we have organized four panels and one experiential session for this workshop, we’ve already created two one-hour spaces for four additional sessions. We’d like these sessions to be on topics that registrants care about and organize themselves. One of the ways we are initiating this conversation is through our Slack workspace – don’t forget to join via this link. Then check out #session-organizing to see the prompts I’ve shared and provide your own ideas! Also be sure to check out #travel-plans if you want to coordinate driving from nearby universities, or taxi/Lyft or meal-sharing.

Registration now open; Slack workspace has been created; Updates to the schedule

1. Registration is now open, huzzah! Registration is limited to 90 people in order to be able to foster connection, communication, and small group conversations. Please do not hesitate and register today!

Please note that there is a sliding scale for registration (which starts at $0), as well as a box you can click to receive financial support for travel and lodging if you are from an underrepresented group in academia (e.g., racial or gender identity group, or from a small regional or community college).

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER TODAY.

2. We now have a Slack workspace! The purpose of this workspace is to make it possible for people interested in issues of academic incivility (both those able and unable to attend the workshop) to engage with each other. Channels so far:

  • #general
  • #random
  • #workshop for conversation related to the workshop on Oct 17&18
  • #session-organizing to find others with whom you could organize and propose a session
  • #travel-plans to find people with whom to carpool, share a hotel room, or share a meal

Here is the invitation link to our Slack workspace. Please make sure to go through the tutorial if you are unfamiliar with Slack, and modify settings as needed (e.g., for email notifications, do not disturb mode). You can access Slack via web browsers or a free app available on Android or iOS.

3. We have updated the workshop schedule. Hotel rooms for Friday night are hard to come by because it’s homecoming weekend (p.s. we recommend trying the Hampton Inn on University Ave first because it’s across the street from the Beckman), so we are ending earlier on Friday to accommodate travel schedules out of our local airport CMI. Here’s the current plan, subject to additional change:

DRAFT AGENDA

Day 1 (Thursday October 17, 2019)  at the Beckman Institute
Time Topic Location
8:00am Registration and coffee Hall outside auditorium
8:00am Welcome, description of the scope of conference. Session on crowdsourcing our values, behaviors, and expectations for the workshop. Room 1005
9:00am Panel Discussion and Q&A: “Defining Incivility”.  Moderator: Kate Clancy (Illinois). Speakers: Sarah Sobieraj (Tufts), Krystal D’Costa (Wire Stone, Accenture), Gloria Gonzales-Morales (University of Guelph)

·       This session will address how we define workplace interactions, how sometimes making people uncomfortable can be conflated with being uncivil, and/or practical strategies on understanding and naming incivility.

Auditorium
10:30am Break
11:00am Panel Discussion and Q&A: “Power and Incivility”.  Moderator: Lilia Cortina (Michigan). Speakers: Johnny E. Williams (Trinity College), Heather Metcalf (AWIS), Chicora Martin (Mills)

·       This session will address how power helps define workplace interactions, the role of coercive power in incivility, how lived experiences and identities shape the ways folks target and are targeted by uncivil practices.

Auditorium
12:30pm Working Lunch: emergent topic tables based on first two panels Room 1005
2:00pm Panel Discussion and Q&A: “Truth and Incivility”.  Moderator: TBA. Speakers: Adrienne Massanari (UIC), Kathleen Stansberry (Elon)

·       This session will address how truth can get coopted by those in power, and/or how organizations differentiate between incivility and hate speech and speaking truth to power. In this particular moment of disinformation/fake news (or doxxing, trolling, or other abuse) as a response to any critical feedback, how can we find a space to talk about engaging in a healthy way with each other (especially when some people in power are invested in not doing so).

Auditorium
3:30pm Break
4:00pm Two simultaneous sessions, organized via Slack by registrants or unconference style at workshop 1005/Auditorium
5:00pm Heavy apps/dinner if room in the budget Room 1005

 

Day 2 (Friday October 18, 2019)  at the Beckman Institute
Time Topic Location
8:00am Coffee; Introduction and debrief exercise on day 1; Restorative practices follow up on behaviors/expectations. Room 1005
9:00am Panel Discussion and Q&A: “Incivility Consequences”.   Moderator: Jay Rosenstein (Illinois). Speakers: Rochelle Gutierrez (Illinois), Vicki Magley (Connecticut), David G. Embrick (Connecticut)

·       This session will help us broaden our definitions of consequences and impacted parties, consider collective fallout and broader community consequences, disciplinary consequences, and/or effects on diversity, productivity, creativity, and innovation.

Auditorium
10:30am Break
11:00am Restorative practices session. Mikhail Lyubansky (Illinois) and David Karp (University of San Diego)
12:30pm Working Lunch: emergent topics and/or space to react to prior experiential session. Room 1005
1:30pm Two simultaneous sessions, organized via Slack by registrants or unconference style at workshop 1005/Auditorium
2:30pm Debrief exercise on day 2; Small group discussion of paths forward Room 1005
3:00pm Report out from Breakout Groups Room 1005
3:30pm Adjourn

 

Updates from 8/7/19 and 8/23/19

23 August 2019 UPDATES

We are pleased to announce the advisory board members of the Transdisciplinary Research on Incivility in STEM Contexts workshop. They are:

  • Jodi Byrd (University of Illinois)
  • Lilia Cortina (University of Michigan)
  • Krystal D’Costa (Accenture Interactive)
  • Rochelle Gutierrez (University of Illinois)
  • Patricia Jones (University of Illinois)
  • David Karp (University of San Diego)
  • Mikhail Lyubansky (University of Illinois)
  • Vicki Magley (University of Connecticut)

We are also pleased to share a preliminary schedule:

Thursday October 17

  • 8am Registration and Coffee
  • 8am Assigned small groups, “What is your working definition of incivility?”
  • 9am Welcome, description of goals, small group work on guiding questions of the workshop
  • 10am First panel and Q&A, “Defining incivility”
  • 11:30am Break
  • 12pm Working lunch, group discussions reflecting on small groups and panel, what are different levels of analysis
  • 1pm Two simultaneous sessions, organized by registrants
  • 2pm Second panel and Q&A, “Power and incivility”
  • 3:30pm Break
  • 4pm Two simultaneous sessions, organized by registrants
  • 5:30pm Heavy apps (or dinner if there is room in the budget)

Friday October 18

  • 8am Debrief on day 1, introduction to day 2
  • 9:00am Third panel and Q&A, “Truth and incivility”
  • 10:30am Break
  • 11:00am Fourth panel and Q&A, “Incivility consequences”
  • 12:30pm Working lunch
  • 1:30pm Break
  • 2:00pm Debrief exercise on day 2, small groups on paths forward
  • 3:00pm Report out from breakout groups
  • 3:30pm Adjourn

7 August 2019 SAVE THE DATE

“Transdisciplinary Research on Incivility in STEM Contexts”
Thursday October 17 & Friday October 18 2019
Beckman Institute for Advanced Science & Technology
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

This workshop will offer a mix of expert panels and registrant-organized small group sessions and is advised by a transdisciplinary board of nationally recognized academics, professionals, and practitioners. We will offer some registration, travel, and lodging support to promote inclusion of underrepresented minority, junior, and/or regional and community college scholars. We will also create an open Slack workspace for the purpose of creating transparent and open opportunities for creating sessions and forging community.

Here is the public abstract of the NSF award.

Please watch this space for updates, including:

  • Registration information
  • Hotel blocks
  • A Slack workspace
  • Schedule and opportunities to contribute sessions

Email Kate Clancy with any questions, and and please email Patty Jones to join the Incivility Workshop Listserv to receive updates.