The 2021 symposium included a pre-conference program, Inclusive SciComm Foundations, on October 8.
The sessions addressed several foundational topics to support the Inclusive SciComm movement.
Disability Accessibility in Science Communication: Barriers and Opportunities
Session Organizers: Linda Corcoran, Syreeta Nolan, Amanda Klingler, Alyssa Paparella
This roundtable discussion, led by disabled scientists and science communicators, facilitated conversation around common barriers and harms disabled people in these fields encounter, and offered solutions and practices allies can adopt to improve the representation and persistence of disabled people interested in doing or accessing science communication. The organizers invited both disabled and non-disabled scientists and science communicators to share their perspectives to start the conversation on this important topic. It is imperative that we recognize disability as a part of diversity and work to include disabled people in the science we do and ensure they can access the information we produce.
Co-creating a Framework to Embed the Key Traits of Inclusive SciComm in Science Communication Training, Practice, and Evaluation
Session Organizers: Karlisa Callwood, Rose Hendricks, Temis Taylor, Marissa Weiss
Science communication and STEM operate within a white supremacy culture (WSC). As SciComm trainers, one way we can mitigate the harms of WSC is by co-creating a communication training framework to center minoritized scholars, science communicators, and audiences in STEM. Session attendees co-created a framework for science communication trainers, science communicators, and evaluators, to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in science, science communication, and society.
Exploring Inclusive SciComm Strategies for the Classroom
Session Organizers: Louisa Braden Johnson, Radha Ganesan
This workshop, designed for scicomm trainers and classroom teachers, engaged participants in open and honest discussion scaffolded by improvisational theater exercises to elicit new conversational pathways that safely and cathartically surmount the barriers to connection between participants and their students, learners, or teammates, while allowing everyone to own their individual privilege and develop constructive collaborative strategies.