scholarly journals Chronicling the Journey of the Society for the Advancement in Biology Education Research (SABER) in its Effort to Become Antiracist: From Acknowledgement to Action

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miriam Segura-Totten ◽  
Bryan Dewsbury ◽  
Stanley M. Lo ◽  
Elizabeth Gibbons Bailey ◽  
Laura Beaster-Jones ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Education Research ◽  
Biology Education ◽  
The United States ◽  
Professional Organization ◽  
Professional Organizations ◽  
Racial Justice ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Professional Societies ◽  
Scientific Institutions ◽  
Seminar Series

The tragic murder of Mr. George Floyd brought to the head long-standing issues of racial justice and equity in the United States and beyond. This prompted many institutions of higher education, including professional organizations and societies, to engage in long-overdue conversations about the role of scientific institutions in perpetuating racism. Similar to many professional societies and organizations, the Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research (SABER), a leading international professional organization for discipline-based biology education researchers, has long struggled with a lack of representation of People of Color (POC) at all levels within the organization. The events surrounding Mr. Floyd’s death prompted the members of SABER to engage in conversations to promote self-reflection and discussion on how the society could become more antiracist and inclusive. These, in turn, resulted in several initiatives that led to concrete actions to support POC, increase their representation, and amplify their voices within SABER. These initiatives included: a self-study of SABER to determine challenges and identify ways to address them, a year-long seminar series focused on issues of social justice and inclusion, a special interest group to provide networking opportunities for POC and to center their voices, and an increase in the diversity of keynote speakers and seminar topics at SABER conferences. In this article, we chronicle the journey of SABER in its efforts to become more inclusive and antiracist. We are interested in increasing POC representation within our community and seek to bring our resources and scholarship to reimagine professional societies as catalyst agents towards an equitable antiracist experience. Specifically, we describe the 12 concrete actions that SABER enacted over a period of a year and the results from these actions so far. In addition, we discuss remaining challenges and future steps to continue to build a more welcoming, inclusive, and equitable space for all biology education researchers, especially our POC members. Ultimately, we hope that the steps undertaken by SABER will enable many more professional societies to embark on their reflection journeys to further broaden scientific communities.

Racial Justice and Criminal Justice

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Valls
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Racial Inequality ◽  
Racial Bias ◽  
The United States ◽  
Black Communities ◽  
Racial Justice ◽  
Black Neighborhoods

The criminal justice system in the United States both reflects racial inequality in the broader society and contributes to it. The overrepresentation of African Americans among those in prison is a result of both the conditions in poor black neighborhoods and racial bias in the criminal justice system. The American system of criminal justice today is excessively punitive, when compared to previous periods and to other countries, and its harsh treatment disproportionately harms African Americans. In addition, those released from prison face a number of obstacles to housing, employment, and other prerequisites of decent life, and the concentration of prisoners and ex-prisoners in black communities does much to perpetuate racial inequality.

Introduction

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Valls
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
Social Construction ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Racial Inequality ◽  
The United States ◽  
Racial Justice ◽  
Color Blind ◽  
American Society ◽  
Liberal Political Theory

The persistence of racial inequality in the United States raises deep and complex questions of racial justice. Some observers argue that public policy must be “color-blind,” while others argue that policies that take race into account should be defended on grounds of diversity or integration. This chapter begins to sketch an alternative to both of these, one that supports strong efforts to address racial inequality but that focuses on the conditions necessary for the liberty and equality of all. It argues that while race is a social construction, it remains deeply embedded in American society. A conception of racial justice is needed, one that is grounded on the premises provided by liberal political theory.

Rethinking Racial Justice

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Valls
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Racial Inequality ◽  
Jim Crow ◽  
The United States ◽  
Racial Equality ◽  
Controversial Issues ◽  
Racial Justice ◽  
Black Institutions ◽  
American Society ◽  
Racial Lines

American society continues to be characterized by deep racial inequality that is a legacy of slavery and Jim Crow. What does justice demand in response? In this book, Andrew Valls argues that justice demands quite a lot—the United States has yet to fully reckon with its racial past, or to confront its ongoing legacies. Valls argues that liberal values and principles have far-reaching implications in the context of the deep injustices along racial lines in American society. In successive chapters, the book takes on such controversial issues as reparations, memorialization, the fate of black institutions and communities, affirmative action, residential segregation, the relation between racial inequality and the criminal justice system, and the intersection of race and public schools. In all of these contexts, Valls argues that liberal values of liberty and equality require profound changes in public policy and institutional arrangements in order to advance the cause of racial equality. Racial inequality will not go away on its own, Valls argues, and past and present injustices create an obligation to address it. But we must rethink some of the fundamental assumptions that shape mainstream approaches to the problem, particularly those that rely on integration as the primary route to racial equality.

scholarly journals Perceived Changes in Sexuality during the COVID-19 Pandemic among Adults in the United States

Sexes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-344
Author(s):  
Jessamyn Bowling ◽  
Erika Montanaro ◽  
Sarai Guerrero-Ordonez ◽  
Stuti Joshi ◽  
Diana Gioia
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Sexual Behavior ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Nationwide Survey ◽  
The United States ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Sex Drive ◽  
Stress Changes ◽  
Sexual Experimentation

In the United States, the COVID-19 pandemic has decreased partnered sexual behavior and increased the use of enhancement (e.g., toys). This has been partly attributed to reduced social interactions and stress. However, individuals’ perceptions of changes are missing in research. This study aims to examine how adults perceive changes in their sexuality during the pandemic. We conducted a nationwide survey of US adults from April–June 2020 (N = 326). This qualitative study examines the open-ended responses using thematic analyses. The following themes emerged from the data: (1) changes in the purpose of sex; (2) changes in sexual identity; (3) decreases in sex drive and desire; (4) increases in sex drive and desire; (5) fluctuations in sex drive and desire; (6) increased sexual experimentation and reflection. The stress, changes in home responsibilities and living situations, and time spent with partners (more or less) has affected individuals by increasing or decreasing their sex drive and desire. Participants responded to changes with self-reflection and awareness, and incorporating new practices (e.g., technology, kink). The purpose of sex has shifted in order to gain intimacy or connect, or to pass time. These changes were perceived as both positive and negative, and more research is needed to determine the durability of these changes.

scholarly journals Separation of Church and State, American Exceptionalism, and the Contemporary Social Moment: Viewing Church–State Separation from the Priority of Slavery

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 34
Author(s):  
Joseph Prud'homme
Keyword(s):  
Church And State ◽  
American Exceptionalism ◽  
The United States ◽  
Antebellum South ◽  
Racial Justice ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Institutional Forces ◽  
Governmental Institutions ◽  
Religious Establishment ◽  
The Relationship

The contemporary social moment in the United States has affirmed the critical importance of racial justice, and especially claims to justice informed by the contributions of structural and institutional forces connected with the nation’s original sin of slavery. In this paper, I examine the contributions of strict church–state separationism to the maintenance of slavery in the antebellum South in comparison to the contributions various forms of religious establishment made to the successful abolition of slavery in the United Kingdom and the British Empire. Developing a deeper historical understanding of the ways the relationship between religious and governmental institutions influenced the abolition and maintenance of slavery can assist the contemporary quest for racial justice.

scholarly journals An innovative method for creating and using nanoparticles for gas extraction from gas hydrates

2019 ◽  
Vol 123 ◽  
pp. 01003
Author(s):  
Volodymyr Bondarenko ◽  
Olena Svietkina ◽  
Kostiantyn Prokopenko ◽  
Baochang Liu
Keyword(s):  
Gas Hydrates ◽  
Alternative Energy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Investment Climate ◽  
Scientific Institutions ◽  
Energy Projects ◽  
The World ◽  
The Face ◽  
Legislative Support ◽  
Alternative Sources

The growth of prices for traditional energy sources prompts Ukraine to seek new approaches to solving energy problems. Today, the country has intensified its work in this direction, in particular, legislative support is being developed and improved, and the investment climate for alternative energy projects is improving. In many countries of the world, it has long been understood how serious and necessary is the development of alternative energy. At present, in the face of various gas contradictions and unstable oil prices, the need for energy carriers is constantly increasing, which makes it necessary to seek the latest solutions to the energy problem. Many leading countries in the world are engaged in the search for alternative sources of energy, one of which is natural gas hydrates. This relatively new resource offers great opportunities both for economic growth and stability of states, and for the development of scientific institutions in this field. Flagships in the study and development of gas-hydrated deposits are the United States, China, Japan and Canada. Along with them should be noted the achievements of scientists in India, EU countries, Ukraine, Russia and Bulgaria.

A science confidence gap: Education, trust in scientific methods, and trust in scientific institutions in the United States, 2014

2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 704-720 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Achterberg ◽  
Willem de Koster ◽  
Jeroen van der Waal
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Modernization Theory ◽  
Reflexive Modernization ◽  
Scientific Methods ◽  
Educational Differences ◽  
Scientific Institutions ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Great Trust

Following up on suggestions that attitudes toward science are multi-dimensional, we analyze nationally representative survey data collected in the United States in 2014 ( N = 2006), and demonstrate the existence of a science confidence gap: some people place great trust in scientific methods and principles, but simultaneously distrust scientific institutions. This science confidence gap is strongly associated with level of education: it is larger among the less educated than among the more educated. We investigate explanations for these educational differences. Whereas hypotheses deduced from reflexive-modernization theory do not pass the test, those derived from theorizing on the role of anomie are corroborated. The less educated are more anomic (they have more modernity-induced cultural discontents), which not only underlies their distrust in scientific institutions, but also fuels their trust in scientific methods and principles. This explains why this science confidence gap is most pronounced among the less educated.

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