Update: TMS letter re: Hosting Conferences in Florida
There have been some developments following engagement like mine (and many others) and there is now a “Joint Statement by The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society’s President and Executive Director on Conducting TMS Events in Orlando”, Florida as announced here, and found here.
I gather this is the first of a few engagements to address some of the issues of rising importance when hosting international academic conferences in states like Florida.
Progress is slow (sadly) but hopefully towards a better direction. The dialogue also continues on the nuances here, and raising your voice (individually or collectively) on these issues.
As a general view, it would be sensible and important for professional societies to include DEI-based risk assessments in their siting analysis of conferences, as well as clauses in their contracts that protect the society from the ramifications of a hostile state government that is prejudice against people who are members of minoritized groupings.
If a conference or professional meeting is supposed to curate a community of practice, but the conference location is problematic for members of one or more groups of people (especially if they currently or historically marginalized) then you are necessarily going to ‘bake in’ systematic biases of who gets to have their voice heard, who gets to listen, and who gets to shape the direction of the field.
[Edit 01/June/2023 — TMS have launched a dedicated page to address the issues of hosting in Orlando]
#science #engineering #academia #conferences #diversity #inclusion #equity #dei #diversityequityinclusion
