Notes from Today's SDTIC Current Events Forum

[Wendy Rote]

Hello everyone and thank you to those who made it to today's Current Events Forum. I hope it was a helpful space to connect with others and discuss thoughts, concerns, and ideas for action.

Below is a summary of key points we discussed.  If I missed anything, I truly apologize. Please feel free to add to this list 🙂

Key Takeaways from the Current Events Forum

Actions

• Let students/faculty from marginalized groups in your institution know yo see them and care about them. This is especially important for undergraduate and graduate students currently feeling threatened.
• Reach out to researchers/academics in other countries who have been dealing with greater government control to gain suggestions and ideas.
• Identify audiences who are and are not willing to listen/change their perspective and direct your effort towards those who may be open to change
• Identify organizations and politicians who are/could be taking a stand on these issues and support them/encourage them to do so
• American Association of University Professors (www.AAUP.org)
• Stands up for academic freedom
• Professional organizations (SRCD, SRA, etc.)
• Note that SRCD has not put out any statement yet! (Perhaps they need some encouragment...)
• Local politicians
• Use https://5calls.org/ to identify who to contact and get scripts to help!
• Become/stay politically engaged. Get involved with local government groups.
• E.g. in Indiana, www.madvoters.org
• Try to stay positive and focus on what is being done
• Following current legal challenges can help: https://www.justsecurity.org/107087/tracker-litigation-legal-challenges-trump-administration/

Food for thought

• We often treat conventions as “less than” moral issues, but these are the rules that structure our society and as important in many ways. Threats against social conventions are a primary reason that many right-leaning individuals are disenfranchised; understanding this may help us understand and connect with those individuals (at an interpersonal and broader political level)
• There is an important distinction between PEOPLE and INSTUTIONAL POWER. It is possible to have empathy and concern for restorative justice for individuals (including those who voted for current power) while rejecting empathy and understanding for those in power who are making sweeping, problematic policy decisions.
• Some potential strategies (not mutually exclusive)
• Keep your head down and adjust your wording/terms as needed to allow you to continue doing the work (research, teaching) that promotes good in society
• Call, protest, and/or write to those in power to stand up for what you believe
• Draw on concepts of restorative justice and empathy to try to connect with the disenfranchised or write opinions about underlying issues.

Wendy

Wendy Rote, Ph.D 

Associate Professor 

Masters in Psychological Sciences Program Director

Department of Psychology 

University of South Florida 

St. Petersburg campus 

wmrote@usf.edu 

727-873-4957 

Pronouns: she/her/hers