Dear Colleagues,
The Resources for Inclusive Evolution Education (RIE2) collective is organizing a virtual working group to develop inclusive teaching modules for undergraduate courses that improve and deepen understanding of evolutionary concepts and examine their historical and social contexts. One of the first places students engage with evolutionary biology in-depth is in undergraduate courses, and evolutionary concepts can be confusing and difficult to grasp at this early stage. Furthermore, to facilitate a deeper understanding of evolutionary concepts within our classrooms and research community, it is important to address how exclusionary systems influenced foundational work in our disciplines, and how it continues to shape the way we study the natural world.
We are seeking scientists, historians, sociologists, and Science and Technology Studies scholars of all career stages who want to collaborate in small interdisciplinary teams to develop accessible undergraduate teaching modules that help educators combat misuse of evolutionary concepts as well as examine and dismantle the eugenic and settler-colonial underpinnings of the field. Potential concepts include: fitness, heritability, sexual selection, and more. Through this experience, participants will connect with others interested in evolution education, develop important pedagogical skills, and create a citable teaching resource shared on QUBES. Participants will also receive a small honorarium, thanks to funding from the American Genetics Association and the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.
We are providing two options for participation: a shorter, “hack-a-thon” style model over this summer or a longer timeline that extends into the fall. If you are interested in participating, please fill out a short Google application form by 5 p.m. PT on May 28, 2024. Accepted participants will be notified by the beginning of June: https://forms.gle/SU4gujeGKC4nT4P49.
You can find more information about this working group at https://qubeshub.org/community/groups/rie2. Please contact inclusive.evoedu@gmail.com with any questions or suggestions, or if you'd like to contribute further to this effort.
Please forward this message to your networks.
Thank you!
Alejandra Camargo, Dr. Nancy Chen, Dr. Angela Google, Dr. Kiyoko Gotanda, Dr. Suegene Noh, Amanda Puitiza, Lucia Ramirez, Dr. Banu Subramanian, Juleyska Vazquez, Dr. Yaamini Venkataraman