[GWAMIT] GW@MIT Newsletter, July 13th, 2020

Mon Jul 13 13:52:30 EDT 2020

GWAMIT Newsletter

July 13th, 2020

On Monday, July 6, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued its guidance<https://mit.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=156ecccacf03a6376855ef479&id=83cc22a18e&e=9d27d80007> on procedures that will apply to international students for the Fall 2020 semester in response to COVID-19 (find out more on the ISO Updates page).<https://iso.mit.edu/immigration/imm_updates.shtml>

This rule threatens to deport international students whose universities do not offer significant in-person learning in the Fall. GWAMIT, like much of MIT, celebrates the importance and value of international students to our scientific and personal communities. We view the ruling as patently unfair and as sending a dangerous message of exclusion to existing and prospective international scholars.

International students, we write today to reaffirm that you are valued and indispensable members of MIT. MIT community members, we encourage you to sign onto this open letter to the MIT administration detailing active strategies to mitigate the impact of the rule on members of our community<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yF2s28m1jJI2LalgT75tadTZF3WBP1Xa6ezwoNFQTyE/view> (including making MIT a sanctuary campus, guaranteeing compliant enrollment to those at risk of deportation, and more!).

MIT and Harvard have filed a joint lawsuit. The hearing is scheduled for Tuesday<https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/07/10/metro/big-hearing-set-tuesday-harvard-mit-lawsuit-challenging-ice-rules-international-students/>.

Did you know? Here is some women-related news from around the world:

            NASA's Washington D.C. headquarters<https://www-theverge-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2020/6/25/21302786/nasa-names-headquarters-after-mary-jackson-the-agencys-first-black-female-engineer> will be named after Mary Jackson, NASA's first black female engineer.

            3rd-Grader Madison Wislon<https://globalnews.ca/news/7143557/girl-7-fundraises-diverse-crayons-books/> is raising money to make multicultural crayons and books available in California classrooms. She has nearly reached her goal of around $17k!

Meet three women<https://www.jnj.com/personal-stories/meet-three-inspiring-women-advocating-hiv-aids> who have been working tirelessly on HIV/AIDS research, education, and awareness, even through the COVID pandemic.

More women join the 'C-Suite'! Bozoma Saint John was named Netflix's new Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)<https://adage.com/article/media/netflix-names-bozoma-saint-john-its-new-cmo/2265306> and the virtual reality start-up Magic Leap hired Peggy Johnson to be its new CEO<https://fortune.com/2020/07/07/ar-magic-leap-ceo-peggy-johnson-microsoft/>.

The Supreme Court upheld the Trump Administration regulation letting employers opt out of birth control coverage on the grounds of religious or moral objections. This could result in as many as 126,000 women losing contraceptive coverage from their employers, as reported by the New York Times<https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/08/us/supreme-court-birth-control-obamacare.html>. Speaking of birth control, want to explore your options and hear other womxn's opinions? Check out this new section from Bustle all about women's health<https://www.bustle.com/wellness/bustle-health-a-to-z>.

And on that note, not all women want to have children. And that's ok. The Guardian has started a new section on their website<https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/series/childfree> entirely dedicated to discussion pieces on why it's not selfish to not want kids.

COVID-19 Resources

GWAMIT has compiled a list of resources we are aware of to help graduate women in our community. If you know of a resource that isn't listed, please let us know (gwamit-exec at mit.edu) so we can include it in the next newsletter to share with the community.

MIT Grant for Graduate Students with Children - Apply by July 1st!

https://oge.mit.edu/finances/grad-student-fin-assist/grad-students-with-children-grant/

Expanded back-up child care policy: https://hr.mit.edu/worklife/backupchildcare

MIT Ombuds Office - ombudsoffice.mit.edu<http://ombuds.mit.edu/>

The Ombuds Office is available to offer support and assistance to the MIT community in navigating these challenges and exploring constructive options for success. We are available for phone or Zoom meetings and can also facilitate online sessions and group discussions to help teams function and support good communication skills during this challenging period.  To schedule a meeting via phone or Zoom email kalina_s at mit.edu or call 617-253-5921. A tips sheet from Ombuds for having difficult conversations can be found at the end of this newsletter.

Graduate student short-term emergency hardship funding: https://engage.mit.edu/submitter/form/step/1?Guid=b180ffce-c28f-41f6-908b-387637df6396

GSC DEI open letter for COVID-relief: https://mitgradstudentadvocates.weebly.com/

MIT Summer Opportunities & Resources: https://resources.mit.edu/summer

Stay at Home Recommendations:

Something to do...

Take a socially distanced and relaxing bike ride through the emerald necklace<https://www.emeraldnecklace.org/park-overview/arnold-arboretum/> to the Harvard Arboretum. A set of COVID-19 precautions<https://www.arboretum.harvard.edu/visit/covid-19-emergency/> will keep you safe!

Something to read...

All-male panels (aka "manels") can deter 1 out of 4 women from participating and can have many further consequences. This article<https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/unseen-consequences-all-male-panels-manels-marie-hemingway> discusses some steps we can each take to create a more inclusive panel.

Looking to borrow books without leaving the house? The Minuteman library network is doing temporary online membership which can be applied for here<https://library.minlib.net/selfreg>!

Something to watch...

For an uplifting story on female friendship and entrepreneurship check out the Babysitter's Club on Netflix!<https://www.netflix.com/title/81005407>

Something to listen to...

Meet 30 new science heroes who are @BlackAFinSTEM and chatting about urban birds, economics, carnivores, Ivory Towers, microaggressions, and how being an ally is a learning process we can all get better at on the Podcast Ologies<https://www.alieward.com/ologies/blackafinstem>.

Something fun...

Need new cozy clothes? Check out Shop MNCO<https://www.etsy.com/shop/marynguyenco> on Etsy, she is a first-generation academic, ex-NASA engineer and now also runs an ETSY shop selling "STEMNIST" and "Girls just want to have FUNding" shirts

Virtual Events & Opportunities

Join the *gameHERs Career & Internship Database

The*gameHERS is an inclusive community that connects women and nonbinary individuals who play video games. I'm reaching out to see if you and/or the women in your club would like to be added to our database for possible career opportunities and/or internships.

  *   The primarily male-run gaming industry tends to hire men, even though women make up nearly half of all gamers. Therefore, women and gender minorities are underrepresented in games, and may feel left out of gaming communities.
  *   Many game companies want to hire more women so that they can appeal to a broader, more inclusive audience. So, the*gameHERS is working with large, mid and small gaming companies to create a professional networking database of talented women and gender minorities in STEM who would be interested in entering the gaming industry.
  *   Game companies will look to this database to hire more diverse employees.

If you are interested in being listed in our networking database for future job opportunities and/or internships, please enter your email here<https://thegamehers.com/collegestudents> . Keep in mind that you don't have to play video games to get a job in the industry!

Virtual International Film Series

Join MIT Global Languages for the launch of our Virtual International Film Series! (see our site<http://mitgsl.mit.edu/virtual-international-film-series> for the full series list)

Upcoming WEST Events

7/14: Rockstar Breakfast (Members only)<https://www.westorg.org/2020-07-15-impostor-syndrome-webinar>

7/15: How to be Unafraid to Shine in Your Spotlight<https://www.westorg.org/2020-07-15-impostor-syndrome-webinar>

7/16: Building Relationships and Your Influence to Thrive in Your Organization<https://www.westorg.org/2020-07-16-influence-webinar>

7/21: How to Advocate for Yourself<https://www.westorg.org/2020-07-21-negotiate-advocate-webinar>

7/22: Annual Networking Night (Free for members and employees at companies with corporate sponsorships)<https://www.westorg.org/2020-07-22-networking-night>

7/28: Mindset Mastery: How to Gain Clarity and Create the Career You Want<https://www.westorg.org/2020-07-28-career-mindset-webinar>

8/4: Building Meaningful Relationship for Your Career<https://www.westorg.org/2020-08-04-career-network-webinar>

8/12: Walking the Tightrope: Mastering the Balance between Likability and Respect<https://www.westorg.org/2020-08-12-leadership-respect-webinar>

9/24: Women and Wealth: Setting Your Course to a Strong Financial Future<https://www.westorg.org/2020-09-24-women-wealth-financial>

NAACP Housing Assistance

Maryanne Kirkbride from MindHand Heart, Office of the Provost has shared the housing assistance opportunity from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). This program is co-sponsored by the Mystic Valley Area NAACP Branch<https://www.mva-naacp.org/housingassistanceinmysticvalley> and Century Bank has established the NAACP Housing Assistance Program to improve housing opportunities for low to moderate income families.

Up to $1,000.00 are available to qualified residents of Arlington, Everett, Lexington, Somerville, Malden, Medford, Winchester, or Woburn. The assistance can be used for down payment, closing costs, necessary repairs, rent assistance, etc.  The application will only be open for a month starting July 3. To apply, please complete the application form<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1NcoNC_MZSadAtiPcqDzAtp5V7OohFRdPXyo_V7U82oI/viewform?edit_requested=true>.

MIT Medical Microaggression Workshop

Coping with Microaggressions Toolkit Graduate and Undergrads

Fridays 9:30-10:45am

Sejal Patel, PsyD. (patel at med.mit.edu<mailto:patel at med.mit.edu>)

This group will meet for six weeks and will focus on discussing the impact of racism on group members, both explicit and implicit, and developing shared

language and concepts around specific incidents and types of microaggressions, with a focus on developing "personal power," interventions, healing, rewriting the narrative, and coping options for past experiences and potential future encounters

GCWS Remote Courses for Fall 2020

The Consortium for Graduate Studies in Gender, Culture, Women, and Sexuality (GCWS) is offering remote courses for Fall 2020. Please see brief descriptions below. More details can be found on their website: https://www.gcws.mit.edu/courses

Workshop for Dissertation Writers in Women's and Gender Studies

Mondays, 4:00-7:00PM (meets every other week all year), taught by Dr. Karl Surkan (MIT, WGS). More Info<https://www.gcws.mit.edu/new-events/dissertationworkshop20>

Visual Transgressions: Gendered Identities in Art and Culture

Tuesdays, 2:00-5:00PM, taught by Dr. Gannit Ankori (Brandeis, Artist History and Theory & WGSS) & Dr. Karl Surkan (MIT, WGS). More Info<https://www.gcws.mit.edu/new-events/visual-transgressions>

GCWS Upcoming Virtual Events

GCWS is hosting several panels this summer that have been organized by an interdisciplinary team of graduate student organizers from across our member institutions. This was originally intended to be our SP20 graduate student symposium<https://www.gcws.mit.edu/gcws-events-list/technologies-of-resistance> but has been reinvented into separate panels due to campus response to COVID in March 2020. These panels are free and open to everyone.

 EcoFeminisms: Rethinking our Interdependencies with the Planet

July 30, 2020 at 11:00-12:30PM, More Info<https://www.gcws.mit.edu/gcws-events-list/technologies-of-resistance-ecofeminisms>, Register Here<https://mit.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_DGSeB64FQUGLSUVekRei1A>

This panel seeks to critically engage with heritage from environmental justice and ecofeminisms by asking questions such as: In the current time of environmental crisis, how can we build affective solidarities with the planet? What lessons can we learn from past debates and how to move toward sustainable feminist futures without essentializing human beings, nature, or technologies?

Speakers include:

·     Natali Valdez, Assistant Professor of Women's and Gender Studies, Wellesley College

·     Banu Subramaniam, Professor and Chair of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, UMass Amherst

·     Amy Agigian, Associate Professor of Sociology, Suffolk University

·     Heidi Hutner, Professor of Sustainability and English, Stony Brook University

Technology as Political Resistance

July 30, 2020 at 3:00-4:30PM, More Info<https://www.gcws.mit.edu/gcws-events-list/technologies-of-resistance-technology>, Register Here<https://mit.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_E5RnTZcISJGrsTBlgXv3Fw>

This panel will discuss how media and technology is deployed, negotiated and redressed in activism. Engaging technologies such as hackathon, civic media, data and computation, the panelists will share their stories of making technology work for feminism, freedom, and justice.

Speakers include:

·     Alexis Hope, Designer and Researcher, MIT Media Lab

·     Lü Pin, Feminist Voices

·     Catherine D'Ignazio, Assistant Professor of Urban Science and Planning, MIT

Pedagogies of Resistance: Sharing Knowledge as a Political Act

August 27, 2020 at 10:00-11:30AM, More Info<https://www.gcws.mit.edu/gcws-events-list/technologies-of-resistance-pedagogies>, Register Here<https://mit.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_4p-E6N5NTcOOFDQjixfxSw>

This panel will reflect and discuss means to implement conscious pedagogies of resistance, or critical pedagogy in the classroom and beyond. both in and out of the classroom. Panelists will share how they draw on the political through their teaching, in the subjects they teach, or the methodologies they utilize.

Speakers include:

·     Kat Tanaka Okopnik, The Dictionary of Social Justice

·     Laura Nelson, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Northeastern University

·     Brooke Foucault, Associate Professor of Communication Studies, Northeastern University

·     Brandy Williams, Graduate Researcher in Early Modern Critical Race and Gender Studies, University of Maryland at College Park

Charitable Giving

Are you donating to black-led organizations? Read this awesome post <https://sisterstem.org/2020/06/23/black-women-in-stem-are-doing-the-work/> by Netia McCray, founder of Mbadika (prepare yourself for some amazing Rihanna gifs!)

Netia McCray is an MIT alum<https://www.businessinsider.com/mbadika-founder-netia-mccray-black-panther-youtube-2018-3>! Her local, Boston-based nonprofit organization Mbadika<https://mbadika.org/>, which helps kids become "makers" and realize their creative dreams with the equipment and technology support to make it happen.

Mbadika isn't currently accepting donations on their website, but Netia recommends several peer organizations that work to support URM representation in STEM. Consider donating to: INTech Camp<https://intechcamp.org/about/> , Vanguard STEM<https://conversations.vanguardstem.com/> , The Glover Center<https://www.degetc.org/> , and The Fab Lab<https://www.thefablab.com/>.

"Don't follow the path. Go where there is no path and begin the trail. "

-Ruby Bridges

Also listen to a recent interview<https://time.com/5856293/ruby-bridges-protests-katie-couric/> with Ruby about how the recent protests give her hope
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