Support The World's Smartest Network
×

Help the New York Academy of Sciences bring late-breaking scientific information about the COVID-19 pandemic to global audiences. Please make a tax-deductible gift today.

DONATE
This site uses cookies.
Learn more.

×

This website uses cookies. Some of the cookies we use are essential for parts of the website to operate while others offer you a better browsing experience. You give us your permission to use cookies, by continuing to use our website after you have received the cookie notification. To find out more about cookies on this website and how to change your cookie settings, see our Privacy policy and Terms of Use.

We encourage you to learn more about cookies on our site in our Privacy policy and Terms of Use.

The Science of Racial Justice

WEBINAR

Only

The Science of Racial Justice

Tuesday, November 16, 2021, 10:00 AM - Wednesday, November 17, 2021, 4:15 PM EST

Webinar

Presented By

The New York Academy of Sciences

 

Political and social movements in 2020 raised collective consciousness, spotlighting the scourge of racism and bias against marginalized communities. The Black-Lives-Matter and the Me-Too movements highlight the prevalence of discrimination across spheres of society while a rise in hate and divisive rhetoric seem to make the goal of achieving racial equity more and more elusive.

To uncover the underlying causes and consequences of systemic bias, this two-day virtual conference will convene social, behavioral, and cognitive scientists as well as activists and legal scholars working to understand the dynamics of intergroup relationships and propose intervention strategies that will move us to a more racially just society.

Topics include basic research on implicit and explicit bias, stereotype threat, intergroup relations, consequences of racist behaviors in health, education, and law enforcement and development of effective intervention strategies.

Marcella Nunez-Smith, MD, MHS


Yale University School of Medicine & HHS COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force

Registration

Member
$165
Nonmember Academia, Faculty, etc.
$205
Nonmember Corporate, Other
$245
Nonmember Not for Profit
$205
Nonmember Student, Undergrad, Grad, Fellow
$85
Member Student, Post-Doc, Fellow
$70

Featured Speaker

Marcella Nunez-Smith, MD, MHS
Marcella Nunez-Smith, MD, MHS

Yale University School of Medicine & HHS COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force

Keynote Speakers

Speakers

Kim A. Case, PhD
Kim A. Case, PhD

Virginia Commonwealth University

Jennifer Eberhardt, PhD
Jennifer Eberhardt, PhD

Stanford University

Stephanie Fryberg, PhD
Stephanie Fryberg, PhD

University of Michigan

Phillip Atiba Goff, PhD
Phillip Atiba Goff, PhD

Yale University

Jerry Kang, JD
Jerry Kang, JD

University of California, Los Angeles

Melanie Killen, PhD
Melanie Killen, PhD

University of Maryland

Claire Jean Kim, PhD
Claire Jean Kim, PhD

University of California, Irvine

Arie Kruglanski, PhD
Arie Kruglanski, PhD

University of Maryland

Jennifer Kubota, PhD
Jennifer Kubota, PhD

University of Delaware

Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton, PhD
Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton, PhD

University of California, Berkeley

Betsy Levy Paluck, PhD
Betsy Levy Paluck, PhD

Princeton University

Keith Payne, PhD
Keith Payne, PhD

University of North Carolina

Denise Sekaquaptewa, PhD
Denise Sekaquaptewa, PhD

University of Michigan

Howard C. Stevenson, PhD
Howard C. Stevenson, PhD

University of Pennsylvania

Linda Tropp, PhD
Linda Tropp, PhD

University of Massachusetts Amherst

David C. Wilson, PhD
David C. Wilson, PhD

University of California, Berkeley

Michael Zárate, PhD
Michael Zárate, PhD

University of Texas at El Paso

Scientific Organizing Committee

James M. Jones, PhD
James M. Jones, PhD

University of Delaware

Jennifer Kubota, PhD
Jennifer Kubota, PhD

University of Delaware

Denise Sekaquaptewa, PhD
Denise Sekaquaptewa, PhD

University of Michigan

Sonya Dougal, PhD
Sonya Dougal, PhD

The New York Academy of Sciences

Barbara Knappmeyer, PhD
Barbara Knappmeyer, PhD

The New York Academy of Sciences

Tuesday

November 16, 2021

10:00 AM

Welcome Remarks

Speaker

Sonya Dougal, PhD
The New York Academy of Sciences
10:05 AM

Overview

Speaker

James Jones, PhD
University of Delaware

Session 1: The Socio-Political Context of Racial Justice

Session Chairperson
James M. Jones, PhD, University of Delaware
10:15 AM

Omission as the Modern Form of Bias against Indigenous Peoples

Speaker

Stephanie Fryberg, PhD
University of Michigan
10:35 AM

The Roots of Racial Bias

Speaker

Keith Payne, PhD
University of North Carolina
10:55 AM

Break

11:10 AM

Why Do People Seek Social Justice

Speaker

Arie Kruglanski, PhD
University of Maryland

In this presentation, I discuss the motivational underpinnings for people concerns with social justice issues. I assume that all human behavior is guided by goals that ultimately serve fundamental human needs. Furthermore, I assume that social justice concerns stem from the universal human quest for significance and dignity. I consider how the quest for significance is activated through either loss of significance or the opportunity for significance gain, and how the channeling of this quest for specific justice oriented action is guided by cultural narratives and social networks. To illustrate these processes, I present findings as to how the quest for significance has played a role in violent extremist movements, but also in pro-social activism.

11:30 AM

Justice Motives and Racial Attitudes

Speaker

David C. Wilson, PhD
University of California, Berkeley
11:50 AM

Joint Audience Q&A

Speakers

Moderator: James M. Jones, PhD
University of Delaware
Stephanie Fryberg, PhD
University of Michigan
Keith Payne, PhD
University of North Carolina
Arie Kruglanski, PhD
University of Maryland
David C. Wilson, PhD
University of Maryland
12:05 PM

Lunch Break

Keynote

Session Chairperson
Jennifer Kubota, PhD, University of Delaware
1:00 PM

The Mental Representation of Race in America: A New Science Compels a New Reckoning

Speaker

Mahzarin Banaji, PhD
Harvard University

A concept as complex as that of “race” in the American context must be understood at multiple levels from the literary to the biological. The work I will present is a view from experimental psychology, with a focus on the mental representation of race and ethnicity. Using studies of attention and perception, explicit and implicit attitudes/stereotypes, embeddings in language both historical and today, we will examine the inconsistency between stated values and mental representations and actions. With this evidence in hand, we can ask how such evidence should compel a new reckoning about the meaning of a good society.

Session 2: Mechanisms of Bias

Session Chairperson
Jennifer Kubota, PhD, University of Delaware
2:15 PM

What Works to Reduce Prejudice? Developmental Science has Some Answers

Speaker

Melanie Killen, PhD
University of Maryland

Developmental science perspectives on prejudice provide a fundamental and important window into determining how to reduce prejudicial attitudes and biases. Research with historically disadvantaged and advantaged groups in childhood and adolescence reveals that children are aware of status and hierarchies, often reject the status quo, and seek to rectify social inequalities. Challenging individuals and groups that exclude others, however, is costly. Group identity often creates obstacles for acting to achieve the fair and equitable treatment of others. Research on attitudes about race, ethnicity, and gender in childhood has identified some of the mechanisms and experiences that contribute to fair and just treatment of others, including cross-group friendships, mental state knowledge, and an understanding of group dynamics. Further, facilitating classroom discussions helps to reduce "in-group vs outgroup" attitudes which is a salient part of why prejudice forms in the first place. The negative consequences of experiencing prejudice and bias include depression, anxiety, and social withdrawal. Thus, intervention, to be effective, must happen early in development, before prejudice and stereotypes are deeply entrenched (and difficult to change) by adulthood.

2:35 PM

Social Neuroscience of Racial Bias

Speaker

Jennifer Kubota, PhD
University of Delaware
2:55 PM

Social Change and Prejudice: The Challenges of Living in a Dynamic Society

Speaker

Michael Zarate, PhD
University of Texas at El Paso
3:15 PM

Q&A

Speakers

Moderator: Jennifer Kubota, PhD
University of Delaware
Melanie Killen, PhD
University of Maryland
Michael Zarate, PhD
University of Texas at El Paso
3:30 PM

Break

Session 3: Protective Mechanisms

Session Chairperson
James M. Jones, PhD, University of Delaware
3:45 PM

Psychological Factors Affecting Equity in Higher Education

Speaker

Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton, PhD
University of California, Berkeley

Despites decades of research, disparities in educational outcomes between majority and minority group students persist at all levels of education. Particularly perplexing is the persistence of these inequalities at the highest levels of training, which already selects for the most highly achieving students for specialization in their field of study. This talk will cover some of the psychological processes that can explain these inequalities, and discuss how the structure of traditional higher education may contribute to these disparities.

4:05 PM

Self-Affirmation

Speaker

Valerie Purdie-Greenaway, PhD
Columbia University
4:25 PM

Racial Literacy as Self-Protection During Discriminatory Racial Encounters

Speaker

Howard C. Stevenson, PhD
University of Pennsylvania

Recently, the call for anti-racist solutions for societal conflicts have increased in education,healthcare, and justice without attention to the emotional, cognitive, and physiologicaldifficulties of in-the-moment (ITM) and face-to-face (FTF) interracial contacts. Discriminatoryracial encounters are detrimental to mental and physical well-being and are linked to short- andlong-term cardiovascular health and quality of life problems. Racial literacy interventions basedon Recast theory (Racial Encounter Appraisal and Socialization Theory) assume that successfullynegotiating stressful interpersonal racial encounters can improve the quality of relationshipsessential for competent health and functioning of relationships and climates for children,families, communities, and organizations (Anderson & Stevenson, 2019; Stevenson, 2014).Racial literacy interventions prepare participants to assertively negotiate ITM-FTF racialmicroaggressions through mindfulness of feelings, thoughts and body reactions during racialstorytelling, journaling, debating, and role-playing activities. Imagine the possibility of preparingindividuals and institutions to manage their threat reactions as perpetrators or victims of racialrejection, thus enhancing their access to memory, physical mobility, and voice? What if,through repetitive practice of racial literacy, we could improve the confidence and humanity ofour racial encounter decision-making and reduce incompetent life-threatening actions towardBlack and Brown people?

4:45 PM

Joint Audience Q&A

Speakers

Moderator: James M. Jones, PhD
University of Delaware
Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton, PhD
University of California, Berkeley
Valerie Purdie-Greenaway, PhD
Columbia University
Howard C. Stevenson, PhD
University of Pennsylvania
5:00 PM

Closing Remarks

Speaker

Barbara Knappmeyer, PhD
The New York Academy of Sciences
5:05 PM

Adjourn

Wednesday

November 17, 2021

10:00 AM

Welcome Remarks

Speaker

Barbara Knappmeyer, PhD
The New York Academy of Sciences

Keynote

Session Chairperson
Denise Sekaquaptewa, PhD, University of Michigan
10:05 AM

The Psychology of Navigating Social and Cultural Diversity

Speaker

Jennifer Richeson, PhD
Yale University

Session 4: Applied Research in Racial Justice

Session Chairperson
Denise Sekaquaptewa, PhD, University of Michigan
10:50 AM

Policing Racism: Beyond Hearts & Minds

Speaker

Phillip Atiba Goff, PhD
Yale University
11:10 AM

Why Critical Race Theory Needs Science

Speaker

Jerry Kang, JD
University of California, Los Angeles
11:30 AM

Break

11:45 AM

Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do

Speaker

Jennifer Eberhardt, PhD
Stanford University
12:05 PM

Joint Audience Q&A

Speakers

Moderator: Denise Sekaquaptewa, PhD
University of Michigan
Phillip Atiba Goff, PhD
Yale University
Jerry Kang, JD
University of California, Los Angeles
Jennifer Eberhardt, PhD
Stanford University

Featured Speaker

Session Chairperson
Barbara Knappmeyer, PhD, The New York Academy of Sciences
12:20 PM

Racial Disparities in Health Care – In Conversation with Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith

Location: Pre-recorded

Speaker

Marcella Nunez-Smith, MD, MHS
Yale University School of Medicine & HHS COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force
12:40 PM

Lunch Break

Session 5: Strategies for Intervention

Session Chairperson
Jennifer Kubota, PhD, University of Delaware
2:00 PM

Prejudice Reduction: Progress and Challenges

Speaker

Betsy Levy Paluck, PhD
Princeton University
2:20 PM

Anti-Racist Pedagogy in Practice

Speaker

Kim A. Case, PhD
Virginia Commonwealth University

Though not a new movement, the summer 2020 uprising for racial justice and Black lives increased theuse and popularity of the phrase “anti-racist pedagogy.” How do we convert these words from merelyaspirational to pedagogical change? Aspiring anti-racist educators can challenge systemic racism andwhite supremacy by strengthening our pedagogical humility (Case et al., 2020) and intersectional culturalhumility (Buchanan et al., 2020). Through pedagogical humility, faculty interrogate assumptions aboutways of being and knowing and infuse student expertise throughout the curriculum as co-creators of thelearning experience. Kimberlé Crenshaw (1989, 1991) officially named intersectionality and highlightedthe ways social systems (e.g., legal system, education) were differentially accessible and applicable togroups of people at critical intersections of identity. Intersectional cultural humility recognizes the need forongoing learning with the understanding that a person’s subjective experience is shaped by their socialcontext, including their race, gender, and social class, and within the context of socio-political systemsthat are rooted in a particular historical context and physical location (Buchanan et al., 2020). Applicationof both pedagogical humility and intersectional cultural humility allows for critical reflection and movingbeyond our traditional higher education approaches aimed at diversity and inclusion.

2:40 PM

Bridging Group Differences Through Intergroup Contact

Speaker

Linda Tropp, PhD
University of Massachusetts Amherst
3:00 PM

Break

3:15 PM

An Evidence-based Faculty Recruitment Workshop Influences Hiring Perceptions Among University Faculty

Speaker

Denise Sekaquaptewa, PhD
University of Michigan
3:35 PM

Asian Americans in an Anti-Black World

Speaker

Claire Jean Kim, PhD
University of California, Irvine
3:55 PM

Joint Audience Q&A

Speakers

Moderator: Jennifer Kubota, PhD
University of Delaware
Betsy Levy Paluck, PhD
Princeton University
Kim A. Case, PhD
Virginia Commonwealth University
Linda Tropp, PhD
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Denise Sekaquaptewa, PhD
University of Michigan
Claire Jean Kim, PhD
University of California, Irvine
4:10 PM

Closing Remarks

Speakers

Jennifer Kubota, PhD
University of Delaware
Barbara Knappmeyer, PhD
The New York Academy of Sciences
4:20 PM

Conference Ends