2009-01-11
On diversity
Often, in academic life, we are asked to report on our "diversity activities" or directed to try to increase diversity in our admissions and hiring endeavours. The problem is that in the absence of a definition or even guidelines about what constitutes a "diversity activity", we are forced to guess what these might be. In my view, this is problematic because it can easily devolve into an exercise that breaks up humans into unrealistic, constituent "canonical identities". Should I report on the sexual preferences or the cultural and racial profile of my students, for instance? Or should I just describe the chromosomal makeup of people I collaborate with, as well as my efforts to increase the numbers of people with a certain chromosomal makeup? I find all of this not only pointless but based on unscientific premises about "identity" that ought to be left in the XX century. I have a collaborator who is XY chromosomally but who is outwardly a female and is attracted to females---should I report on that and how? I refuse to. For me, in an appraisal, admissions or hiring exercise, looking at human features other than their relevant productivity is in bad taste and ultimately unfair to all involved, which is why I object to doing it.
I believe that if a goal of our organization is to increase its population diversity, the best that we can do is to increase the universal appeal of our subject matter. Certainly biology and psychology as fields are quite diverse in their workforce because their subject matter is of universal appeal. Computing, on the other hand, is not as diverse simply because its subject matter has been very restricted to questions about computing per se, rather than about solving real-world or human-nature problems. Traditional computing has not been very appealing to women, but it has not been very appealing to most men either. It appeals to a special type of person who is interested in abstract computing per se---that kind of person tends to be a certain type of man, but certainly most men are also not interested in computing per se.
The field of Informatics, a fairly new term in the US and the general area where I work, is more focused on problem-solving and human and biological questions. Therefore, it is poised to change the appeal of computing---at least that is what we are betting on. My point is that if we want to increase diversity in the informatics or computing, let us focus of making our subject matter more universally appealing, rather than counting the gender, racial, cultural, and sexual preference attributes of people---all of which are more or less fuzzy and ultimately undefinable.
Yesterday I saw the movie doubt, in which Meryl Street's character, a nun, says that in the pursuit of wrongdoing, one has to part in the opposite direction of the Christian message (or something like that). I feel that the goals of the academic pushes for increasing (the ever-undefined) diversity are a bit like that. But I am fundamentally opposed to the view that one can fight racism, sexism and the like, by counting race and gender---whatever way it goes it is still discrimination. We are all better off fighting for universal human rights and, in the context of academia, pushing for universal or at least wider appeal of the fields that have cornered themselves in very hermetic subject matters.
As Graham Greene used to say, "there are many countries in our blood, but only one person". To "countries" I would add "cultures" and "phenotypic traits".
I believe that if a goal of our organization is to increase its population diversity, the best that we can do is to increase the universal appeal of our subject matter. Certainly biology and psychology as fields are quite diverse in their workforce because their subject matter is of universal appeal. Computing, on the other hand, is not as diverse simply because its subject matter has been very restricted to questions about computing per se, rather than about solving real-world or human-nature problems. Traditional computing has not been very appealing to women, but it has not been very appealing to most men either. It appeals to a special type of person who is interested in abstract computing per se---that kind of person tends to be a certain type of man, but certainly most men are also not interested in computing per se.
The field of Informatics, a fairly new term in the US and the general area where I work, is more focused on problem-solving and human and biological questions. Therefore, it is poised to change the appeal of computing---at least that is what we are betting on. My point is that if we want to increase diversity in the informatics or computing, let us focus of making our subject matter more universally appealing, rather than counting the gender, racial, cultural, and sexual preference attributes of people---all of which are more or less fuzzy and ultimately undefinable.
Yesterday I saw the movie doubt, in which Meryl Street's character, a nun, says that in the pursuit of wrongdoing, one has to part in the opposite direction of the Christian message (or something like that). I feel that the goals of the academic pushes for increasing (the ever-undefined) diversity are a bit like that. But I am fundamentally opposed to the view that one can fight racism, sexism and the like, by counting race and gender---whatever way it goes it is still discrimination. We are all better off fighting for universal human rights and, in the context of academia, pushing for universal or at least wider appeal of the fields that have cornered themselves in very hermetic subject matters.
As Graham Greene used to say, "there are many countries in our blood, but only one person". To "countries" I would add "cultures" and "phenotypic traits".
Labels: Academia, diversity, racism, sexism
2008-05-26
Love Resurrection
As I get ready to hop the pond for the long and needed summer in Portugal, I have been reflecting on how weird and difficult the past year was. I am tired of the endless primary season in the U.S. Seven years of George Bush and three years in academia have turned me into a cynic---something I never was even when living in New York. The inbred Portuguese academia and politics did not help either.
This week I read a wonderfully written article by Charles Pierce in Esquire Magazine, which sums up perfectly how I am feeling about politics in the US. This is one of the best articles of its kind I have read since the heyday of Gore Vidal in Vanity Fair and Esquire itself. One of my biggest pleasures is still subscribing to about 20 magazines... Charles Pierce is brilliant in this piece; like him, I want so much to be convinced by Barack Obama, but I am not ready yet to buy the wholesale "absolution without confession, without penance" of those guilty of the current state of affairs. As he writes: "The catastrophe that is the administration of George W. Bush is not unprecedented. It was merely inevitable. The people of the United States have been accessorial in the murder of their country." If you want to see how, read the article.
I am equally cynical about academia, but the colleagues who make me feel that way---most of them---are not worth the time I am not using for research to write this.
I am equally cynical about Portugal, but I'll write about that in Portuguese once I am there.
There is a Zen in all of this, and as usual, it gets here in musical form. Two weeks ago, I had the accidental pleasure of travelling together with Bobby McFerrin (on an oh so short hop) between Barcelona and Lisbon. The man is such a ray of sunshine on all of us. Music comes out of his every pore. Out of nowehere, he sings about luggage being hauled into the plane or the color of the chair. I had such a great time, and managed to see him live from the second row the next day. Pure Zen. Pure City Zen, as I have to go to Barcelona and Lisbon to catch this guy.
But this experience moved me to make the mix CD below for my wife, and that I now share here. It marks a slow reconnect with myself. I am embarking on a Love Resurrection. I am going to reconnect to all the things that I love. My family, my friends, my own research and low tolerance for bullshit. Today I wore a "War is Over: If you Want It" Lennon/Ono T-Shirt in a cafeteria on the most redneck part of Bloomington, with a smile in my face; most people smiled back. Two weeks ago I reconnected with a good old friend in Barcelona, and it was even better. This month I published four papers on topics I care about and allowed no compromise. This morning I jumped on the trampoline with my kids, in our underwear, in the uptight Midwest---I am still laughing. I can barely wait to be with my mother, brother and nephews this summer. No academic committee is worth your attention if you don't share the vision. No grant is worth not making love to your wife.
The mix CD is about all that. I have moved on to more upbeat stuff since mixing it; I will post a sequel later . A hint: I am discovering the Disco-Bowie of "Young Americans", from a time so very similar to this.
So enjoy the mix CD. username: apollo , password: thediscoking
This week I read a wonderfully written article by Charles Pierce in Esquire Magazine, which sums up perfectly how I am feeling about politics in the US. This is one of the best articles of its kind I have read since the heyday of Gore Vidal in Vanity Fair and Esquire itself. One of my biggest pleasures is still subscribing to about 20 magazines... Charles Pierce is brilliant in this piece; like him, I want so much to be convinced by Barack Obama, but I am not ready yet to buy the wholesale "absolution without confession, without penance" of those guilty of the current state of affairs. As he writes: "The catastrophe that is the administration of George W. Bush is not unprecedented. It was merely inevitable. The people of the United States have been accessorial in the murder of their country." If you want to see how, read the article.
I am equally cynical about academia, but the colleagues who make me feel that way---most of them---are not worth the time I am not using for research to write this.
I am equally cynical about Portugal, but I'll write about that in Portuguese once I am there.
There is a Zen in all of this, and as usual, it gets here in musical form. Two weeks ago, I had the accidental pleasure of travelling together with Bobby McFerrin (on an oh so short hop) between Barcelona and Lisbon. The man is such a ray of sunshine on all of us. Music comes out of his every pore. Out of nowehere, he sings about luggage being hauled into the plane or the color of the chair. I had such a great time, and managed to see him live from the second row the next day. Pure Zen. Pure City Zen, as I have to go to Barcelona and Lisbon to catch this guy.
But this experience moved me to make the mix CD below for my wife, and that I now share here. It marks a slow reconnect with myself. I am embarking on a Love Resurrection. I am going to reconnect to all the things that I love. My family, my friends, my own research and low tolerance for bullshit. Today I wore a "War is Over: If you Want It" Lennon/Ono T-Shirt in a cafeteria on the most redneck part of Bloomington, with a smile in my face; most people smiled back. Two weeks ago I reconnected with a good old friend in Barcelona, and it was even better. This month I published four papers on topics I care about and allowed no compromise. This morning I jumped on the trampoline with my kids, in our underwear, in the uptight Midwest---I am still laughing. I can barely wait to be with my mother, brother and nephews this summer. No academic committee is worth your attention if you don't share the vision. No grant is worth not making love to your wife.
The mix CD is about all that. I have moved on to more upbeat stuff since mixing it; I will post a sequel later . A hint: I am discovering the Disco-Bowie of "Young Americans", from a time so very similar to this.
So enjoy the mix CD. username: apollo , password: thediscoking
Labels: Academia, Barack Obama, Bobby McFerrin, Love, Musis, Politics
