Identifying Opportunities for Inclusive Language in Carpentries Workshops: A Case Study at Carnegie Mellon University Libraries

[hannahcgunderman]

Title of the session: Identifying Opportunities for Inclusive Language in Carpentries Workshops: A Case Study at Carnegie Mellon University Libraries

Session details

• Session type: lightning talk

• Keywords: Inclusive design; Neurodiversity; data education; curriculum development; socioeconomics

• Permission to record this session: Yes

Abstract

• This lightning talk highlights the ongoing work being done among Carpentries instructors at Carnegie Mellon University Libraries to encourage inclusive language in data science and data management education. We expand upon existing training for Carpentries instructors which encourages us to avoid the use of “simple” and “easy” in our instruction, and offer additional considerations for inclusive language that is mindful of neurodiversity/neurodivergence, institutional access to resources, religion, and socioeconomic situations. “Best Practices” in data science and data management education often assume the researcher is operating at a baseline socioeconomic level, with access to certain institutional services, and having certain cognitive and physical abilities. Using a “calling in” approach, we identify opportunities within “Best Practices” to use compassionate language and considerations for accessibility. As a lightning talk, we will focus our three minutes on providing succinct examples of inclusive language opportunities, and provide the audience with information for learning more and getting involved in our efforts. The target audience for this lightning talk is anyone who teaches (or hopes to teach) Carpentries workshops and wants to incorporate more inclusive language into their curriculum that is mindful of the many lenses through which a learner approaches their data science education. With this lightning talk, we hope to gather a network of interested individuals who would like to further collaborate with CMU Libraries on creating blueprints for more inclusive data science and data management education, as well as inspire current and future Carpentries instructors to use inclusive language in their workshops.

Personal details

• Name or pseudo name of the session lead: Hannah C. Gunderman, Ph.D. (I use she/they pronouns)

• Co-leads' names (we recommend involving 2 helpers/co-leads): Emma Slayton, Ph.D. (I use she/her pronouns); Sarah Young (I use she/her pronouns).

• Email or other ways to contact the session leads/co-leads: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

• Country of residence and/or compatible Time Zones (provide options): Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America (Eastern Standard Time).

• Would you like to present this multiple times, in other time zones: No; would prefer the 1300 UTC (9:00am EST), Thursday August 6 for the lightning talk

• Would you like to volunteer to be listed as a wrangler/host for your time zone: No

Is there any help you would like to invite from the community? Please provide below in bullet points.

• No

• Other comments: N/A