[gwaMIT] gwaMIT Newsletter, November 16th, 2020

Mon Nov 16 11:22:24 EST 2020

gwaMIT Newsletter

November 16th, 2020

gwaMIT General Board Meeting (GBM) + Game Night
When: Wednesday, Dec. 9th, 6:30-8:00PM
Where: Zoom- link will be sent to those who RSVP!
RSVP: here<https://forms.gle/D3Gkzmi6kAkrXCa6A>
Join gwaMIT for our General Board Meeting! You'll get to hear more about gwaMIT and its activities this past semester and meet womxn across departments, including our gwaMIT department reps! After our updates, we’ll also have a game night. We will reimburse up to $10 for dinner! RSVP at the link above.

Meet the Department Reps!

[cid:image001.jpg at 01D6BC0A.C139BDD0] Angélica Chíncaro / Integrated Design & Management

Please tell us about your interests and work experience. For the last 6 years I’ve been working as a Product Manager leading the development and implementation of digital products at different scales. My other passion is education, that I’ve discovered through my work in social entrepreneurship. I want to use my corporate experience with my volunteer advocacy and my new learnings at MIT to help develop, enhance or scale products that impact the life of one or millions of users in a positive way.

Who is your favorite womxn from history or the present times, and why? My mom. She came from a really difficult family background with lots of limitations but through education and a lot of mental strength she was able to achieve her goals and at the same built a safe and loving home for me and my family.

What do you like about being a gwaMIT Rep? I love gwaMIT’s purpose and being able to transmit it to our program it’s an amazing experience. In addition, I really like that we have the opportunity to use other skills not so related to our work field. For example, I was able to help with the branding for the last Empowerment conference. I'm not a designer, but I love design and gwamit’s Marketing gave the chance to put some new skills in practice.

[cid:image002.jpg at 01D6BC0A.C139BDD0] Boya Song/ Math

Please tell us about your interests and work experience. I study complex systems using both the mathematical-modeling perspective of building, simulating and validating models, and the machine-learning perspective of directly learning the underlying models from experimental data. In particular, I’ve looked into complex biophysical/physical systems such as bacterial colonies, sperm suspension and active Brownian particles.

Who is your favorite womxn from history or the present times, and why? I really appreciate Prof. Gigliola Staffilani in my department. She has been a very important supporting figure for both helping out womxn members and promoting diversity within the math department.

What do you like about being a gwaMIT Rep? I like having the chance to get to know reps from other departments, and keeping myself updated with all the womxn-related events around MIT!

Did you know? Here is some womxn-related news from around the world:
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern appointed the country’s first Indigenous female foreign minister<https://amp-cnn-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/11/02/asia/new-zealand-foreign-minister-intl-hnk/index.html> this November, making it one of the most diverse parliaments in the world!

This month, we celebrate the date in November 1872, when Susan B. Anthony demanded to vote in the presidential election, a crucial step on the path towards womxn’s suffrage. Take a moment to learn more about the story<https://www.rochester.edu/2020-celebration/susan-b-anthony/> of this amazing womxn in American history.

gwaMIT Empowerment Conference 2020 Keynote Speaker, Dr. Ritu Raman, was featured<https://www.linkedin.com/posts/empowered-women-series-ews-_empoweredwomenseries-shecanstem-stem-activity-6729044883249643520-RQWW/> in LinkedIn’s “Empowered Women Series” last week. Congratulations, Ritu! You can check out other featured womxn on the group’s main page<https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/empowered-women-series-ews-/>.

Learn more about Britain’s oldest surviving WWII female veteran<https://www-dailymail-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8901035/amp/Britains-oldest-surviving-female-WWII-veteran-103-black-woman-radar-operator.html>, Ena Collymore-Woodstock, who battled sexism and discrimination to avoid a clerical job and became the first black female radar operator, a crucial position in defeating the Nazis.

26-year old Charlotte N’Guessan was the first womxn to win the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Africa Prize for Innovation<https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/07/africa/africa-engineering-prize-intl/index.html> in September, 2020 for a system revolutionizing cyber security.

Entrepreneur magazine recently released their “100 Powerful Women<https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/356893>” list. Featured with this list<https://www-entrepreneur-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.entrepreneur.com/amphtml/356977> are female leaders of 47 businesses fighting for change.

Learn more about India’s “Most Powerful Women” in Fortune Magazine’s 2020 List<https://www.fortuneindia.com/mpw?year=2020>.

Midshipman 1st Class Sydney Barber<https://amp-cnn-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2020/11/10/us/naval-academy-sydney-barber-trnd/index.html> will be the first Black womxn to lead the US Naval Academy’s student body as brigade commander.

McKinsey released it’s “Women in the Workplace 2020<https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/diversity-and-inclusion/women-in-the-workplace?cid=other-soc-lkn-mip-mck-oth---&sid=4015091753&linkId=103091163>” Article. In this year’s article, troubling trends are being measured as a consequence of COVID-19. Their study also looks into impacts specifically on womxn of color with data disaggregated based on race and ethnicity.

Faiza Heidar will be the first womxn to coach a men’s pro soccer team in Egypt. Read more about this amazing womxn here<https://mobile-reuters-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKBN27B26I>.

A graduate student at Michigan State University, Caitlin Kirby, wore a skirt made of 17 different rejection letters at her thesis defense<https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=27484&fbclid=IwAR1lrOqM0J2-8szddwBP-bq2sRaYC7lB4aC0RtfmayJiN4BMxj-y6EvjqQc>. She did so try normalize failure and the many roadblocks faced in completing a dissertation.

Barbara Blake Hannah, the first Black reporter on British TV, was recently featured in a BBC News article<https://www-bbc-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/stories-54623417>. She faced racism and discrimination during her journey, but now has a British Journalism Award named in her honor.

Events & Opportunities

  1.  NEGWiSE Events (multiple dates)
  2.  A call to action: striving for racial justice in academic biology (Nov. 19th)
  3.  Women’s Entrepreneurship Month @ MIT (Nov. 19th)
  4.  MASS AWIS I-Corps Spark Event (Nov. 19th)
  5.  Trans Day of Remembrance (Nov. 20th)
  6.  Native American History Month (Nov. 20th, Nov. 23rd)
  7.  Contribute to the MIT Community Quilt (by Nov. 23rd)
  8.  MindHandHeart Community Innovation Fund (apply by Nov. 25th)
  9.  Seeking graduate student mentors for Wellesley Research Bootcamp (apply now!)
  10. Paid Part-Time AI Teaching Opportunity at Inspirit AI: Winter 2020/Spring 2021 (apply now!)
  11. Upcoming Cheney Room events (multiple dates)
  12. Grad Technical Leadership Virtual Workshops (multiple dates)
  13. Public Guest Lectures: Black Mobility and Safety in the US (multiple dates)
  14. #BlackInTheIvory: Academia’s Role in Institutional Racism (Dec. 3rd)
  15. MIT Society of Women Engineers UROP Mixer (Dec. 8th)
  16. GCWS Spring 2021 Courses (apply by Jan. 3rd)
  17. PhagePro – Scientist Positions Open (apply now!)
  18. Scientists in Solidarity
  19. Full-Stack App Developer Internship Opportunity (apply now!)
  20. The Social Scientist Mentorship Program (now!)
  21. STEMxx Chats Interest Form (now!)
  22. Join the IDHR Student Advisory Committee (now!)
  23. Join MITxHarvard Women in AI Group (now!)
  24. Become a gwaMIT Department Rep (now!)
  25. Sign up for the GradDiversity Newsletter!

  1.  NEGWiSE Events

Videos of past NEGWiSE Virtual Series events are available here: https://negwise.org/pastevents/ - these include “Sharing Women’s Success Stories in STEM” by Prasha Sarwate Dutra and “Creating Environments and Organizations that Effect Change for Minority & First-generation Students” by Deja Knight

NEGWiSE is holding a free screening event of “Picture a Scientist” from Nov 27th-29th:

NE GWiSE film screening: Picture a Scientist

When: Watch online any time November 27-29th

Learn more and register at https://tinyurl.com/negwise-pas
Experience the groundbreaking documentary following the researchers writing a new chapter for women scientists. Join the conversation by submitting reactions to the film to our online discussion board at https://tinyurl.com/negwise-pas-chat .

  1.  A Call to Action: Striving for Racial Justice in Academic Biology

November 19th, 3PM (ET), https://asu.zoom.us/j/94696434185

Read more details here: https://saberbio.wildapricot.org/resources/Documents/9694_SABER-Fliers_06.pdf

Black women and belongingness: An interrogation of STEM education as a white, patriarchal space

This interactive research presentation engages audience members with empirical data to deconstruct ideas of Black women’s belongingness in STEM education as a white, patriarchal space. Statistics from recent National Science Foundation reports of advanced degrees in mathematical sciences are used along with Black women’s narratives of experience in STEM majors as well as perceptions of instruction in introductory courses. Please come prepared for an engaging discourse and critical reflection to inform more equitable, socially conscious practices in STEM education.

  1.  Women’s Entrepreneurship Month @ MIT
Women’s Entrepreneurship Day<https://www.womenseday.org/> is Thursday, November 19th. This year, MIT Innovation Initiative and the Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship are inviting departments, labs, centers, programs, schools, and student organizations across MIT to empower, celebrate, and support our own women in innovation and entrepreneurship for the month of November—focused primarily on the week of November 16–20.
Show your support for Women’s Entrepreneurship Month @ MIT by taking part in the #WomenOfMIT campaign—create or share social posts during the month of November, host an event, submit a video. When you do, we’ll feature your logo on the WEM site.
To make it easy we’ve put together a webpage on the Women’s Entrepreneurship Month microsite of the ways that you can partner with us. Fill in the participation form<https://innovation.mit.edu/inclusive-innovation-2/womens-entrepreneurship-month-at-mit_join/>.

GET INSPIRED AND MEET NEW PEOPLE AT THIS ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION WITH SOME OF MIT’S MOST INNOVATIVE WOMEN.

One of the best ways to support women entrepreneurs is to celebrate them! Join this culminating celebration event, a candid conversation with innovators at MIT who represent the pipeline of women in innovation and entrepreneurship from undergraduate to faculty. There will also be breakout room networking. Walk away with inspiration, insights, and new connections at MIT.

Registration is Free!

Event Hosts: MIT Innovation Initiative and MIT Legatum Center for Development & Entrepreneurship

Event Date: Thursday, November 19, 2020

Event Time: 12:00PM Eastern

Speaker Lineup:

·         Smita Bhattacharjee - undergrad student , founder of TILT

·         Celi Lynch - grad student, founder of Green Source

·         Shruti Muralidhar - postdoc, co-founder of BiasWatchIndia and IndSciComm

·         Floris Engelhardt - postdoc, Kano Therapeutics

·         Christina Qi - alumna, founder of Domeyard LP and Databento

·         Rebecca Hui - alumna, founder of Roots Studio

Moderated by: Hala Hana, Managing Director, Community at MIT Solve

REGISTER NOW<https://www.eventbrite.com/e/womens-entrepreneurship-day-mita-celebration-tickets-127494929767>

  1.  MASS AWIS I-Corps Spark Event

Date: Thursday, November 19th, 5:30-6:30 pm
Location: online
Cost: MASS AWIS members - free; Non members - free
Presently, there have been 300+ teams that have completed the regional I-Corps Spark program across New England. Spark —  led by the New England Regional Innovation Node, housed at MIT —  is a free 3-week program to help researchers and engineers in New England explore the potential applications of their new deep technologies.
This session is designed to have 2 different but successful founders share their paths leading up to the I-Corps Spark program, their Lessons Learned, and overall experience. These teams will also talk about their experiences after the Spark program— including how to apply for an additional $50,000 grant from the National Science Foundation I-Corps national program— and also share some additional anecdotes along the way.

  1.  Trans Day of Remembrance
On November 20th each year, people around the world remember and honor transgender and non-binary people who have lost their lives due to anti-trans violence. We will gather to honor trans lives and say the names of trans people who have lost their lives this year. We will close with information about how to take action. Come for some or stay for the duration, open to all in the MIT community. Funded by MindHandHeart. <https://mindhandheart.mit.edu/>
Time: 4-6pm EST, November 20th

  *   Zoom link: https://mit.zoom.us/j/91385326654
*If you need support, check out the programs and resources at https://lbgtq.mit.edu/ or email Lauryn McNair, Assistant Director of Intercultural Engagement for LBGTQ+ Services at  mcnair at mit.edu<mailto:lmcnair at mit.edu>

  1.  Native American History Month
Professor Darren Ranco: Friday, Nov. 20 @ 12:00pm EST
Professor Philip J Deloria: Monday, Nov. 23 @ 1:00pm EST
Professor Craig Wilder: TBD
Zoom link available upon registration
Join ICEO, MIT AISES<http://web.mit.edu/aises/www/>, & MIT NASA<https://engage.mit.edu/organization/nasa> for a guest lecture series celebrating Native American History Month.
Friday, November 20<https://www.eventbrite.com/e/native-american-history-month-professor-darren-ranco-tickets-129299699883>: Professor Darren Ranco, University of Maine Associate Professor of Anthropology and Chair of Native American Programs discussing decolonizing universities through place-based partnerships with tribal nations. Professor Ranco is a citizen of the Penobscot Nation. His research focuses on the ways in which indigenous communities in the United States resist environmental destruction by using indigenous diplomacies and critiques of liberalism to protect cultural resources, and how state knowledge systems, rooted in colonial contexts, continue to expose indigenous peoples to an inordinate amount of environmental risk.
Monday, November 23:<https://www.eventbrite.com/e/native-american-history-month-professor-philip-j-deloria-tickets-129301390941> Professor Philip J Deloria, Leverett Saltonstall Professor of History at Harvard University discusses his book Becoming Mary Sully<https://uwapress.uw.edu/book/9780295745046/becoming-mary-sully/> and his research on the social, cultural and political histories of the relations among American Indian peoples and the United States.
Stay tuned for Professor Craig Wilder – date TBD!
REGISTRATION:
Darren Ranco – Friday, Nov. 20<https://www.eventbrite.com/e/native-american-history-month-professor-darren-ranco-tickets-129299699883>
Philip Deloria – Monday, Nov. 23<https://www.eventbrite.com/e/native-american-history-month-professor-philip-j-deloria-tickets-129301390941>

  1.  Contribute to the MIT Community Quilt

MindHandHeart and the Division of Student Life are launching a Community Quilt<https://mindhandheart.mit.edu/mit-community-quilt> to connect MIT community members scattered across the globe.

All MIT students, postdocs, staff, faculty, alumni and families (spouses, partners, and children) are invited to contribute a square drawing answering the question: Where do you find hope?

In January, the squares will be combined into a digital quilt. At a later date, the squares will be turned into fabric quilt that will be displayed across MIT’s campus.

No drawing skills are necessary and simple designs are welcome. Submit your square by November 23rd.

Some virtual drawing sessions have been set up for drop-ins. You can learn more here<https://mindhandheart.mit.edu/mit-community-quilt>.

[cid:image003.jpg at 01D6BC0A.C139BDD0]

  1.  MindHandHeart Innovation Fund
The deadline for the MindHandHeart Community Innovation Fund<https://mindhandheart.mit.edu/innovation-fund> has been extended to November 25, 2020!
Grants of up to $10,000 are available. See attached poster.
Check out this list of past Community Innovation Fund projects<https://mindhandheart.mit.edu/innovation-fund/grant-recipients> and apply with your ideas to:
• Build community and resilience in light of the Covid-19 pandemic
• Advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and racial justice at MIT
• Support mental and physical health
• Encourage healthy sleep, eating, and exercise
• Spread humor and joy
Information Sessions will be held on:
• Wednesday (11/18) 9:00AM EST
• Friday (11/20) 3:00PM EST
• Monday (11/23) 2:00PM EST
Link: mit.zoom.us/j/96231463846<https://mit.zoom.us/s/96231463846#success>
If you can't make it to an information session and would like to learn more, please reach out to Maisie O'Brien (maisieob at mit.edu<mailto:maisieob at mit.edu>) to schedule a time to meet.

  1.  Seeking graduate student mentors for Wellesley Research Bootcamp

Hi, my name is Erica and I’m co-directing the Wintersession Research Bootcamp program at Wellesley College this January (which will be held remotely on Zoom). We are looking to recruit graduate students from Boston area schools to serve as mentors.

The program: Briefly, this program is aimed towards first year undergraduate students, many of whom are members of underserved communities and have not had access to good lab-based science classes in high school. As this year’s session will be held online, we have developed a computational genomics program. Each mentor will be paired with 2-3 students, and at the end of the program, students will present their work to Wellesley faculty and other students.

Responsibilities: This year’s bootcamp is scheduled tentatively for January 21-28. There’s also a welcome gathering in late December and two training sessions in early January, all which will take place via Zoom. During the week of the bootcamp, we ask mentors to be available for the majority of each weekday from about 10-5 EST. You will attend synchronous sessions over Zoom (tentatively planned for early afternoon), and engage with your two or three mentees intermittently throughout the day using the platform of your choice (Slack, Zoom, Google Meet, etc) to help students with the experiments. Throughout the week you’ll also be asked to give a short chalk talk on your research, a lecture about a scientific topic, an informal talk about your path to science, and (optionally) record a short video of yourself in your research lab as a way to let students “tour” research labs remotely.

Mentors: Since a lot of our students are from underserved backgrounds, we’re really hoping to recruit graduate student mentors who have had similar paths to science. A lot of the students are first gen, minorities, and many of them identify as women, so we would love to recruit mentors with these aspects in common. If you don’t fall into any of these groups but are passionate about mentoring, please do apply as well. Additionally, as our topic is computational genomics-based, we would love to recruit mentors whose research is in this area (but not a requirement!).

If you’re interested, please fill out this short application (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScDvgA-N_t213szTST18FGR7UgPyw8H3vRj_bK_8M3JzvPEmA/viewform?usp=sf_link) and we will get back to you to schedule a brief interview. Please contact Erica Zheng (ericazheng at g.harvard.edu<mailto:ericazheng at g.harvard.edu>) with any questions.

  1.  Paid Part-Time AI Teaching Opportunity at Inspirit AI: Winter 2020/Spring 2021

Posted Fall 2020

Inspirit AI<http://www.inspiritai.com/> is an education project by a team<http://www.inspiritai.com/team> of grad students from Stanford and MIT focused on bringing AI education to curious high school students globally. This summer and fall, we’ve taught AI to hundreds of high school students from around the world through our live online AI program<https://www.inspiritai.com/liveonline>. Students learn about the technical, social, and ethical challenges of AI, build machine learning models in Python, and complete projects<http://projects> applying AI to social good, from assessing bias in the social justice system to identifying the origins of COVID-19.

We’re seeking students or recent alumni with AI/ML experience to join our teaching team (for a paid, remote instructor role) for our winter and spring programs. We’re looking for:

  *   Experience:  An intro machine learning course (like Stanford CS229/CS230 or MIT 6.036) or equivalent AI project experience. Teaching experience is a plus!
  *   Availability:  most days Dec. 21 - Jan. 3, or once a week Jan. 23 - Apr. 1. Multiple time slots are available.
  *   Enthusiasm: for teaching high school students across the globe and joining the Inspirit community!

We offer competitive compensation, training on teaching our curriculum, and an experienced team<https://www.inspiritai.com/team> from Stanford and MIT.

If interested, please fill out this brief form<https://forms.gle/BH7eBX6x2SLkAqFG7>, and feel free to email adeesh at stanford.edu<mailto:adeesh at stanford.edu> or daniela.inspiritai at gmail.com<mailto:daniela.inspiritai at gmail.com> with any questions. Looking forward to hearing from you!

  1.  Upcoming Cheney Room Events
November events:

  *   COVID and Relationships, with Gurleen Kaur Singh

Tuesday, November 10 2020 at 12:00 PM EST

https://engage.mit.edu/event/6578318

  *   Against Mass Incarceration: What We Can Do-- Roundtable with The Educational Justice Institute (TEJI) at MIT, MA State Rep. Liz Miranda, and Black and Pink Boston

Thursday, November 12 2020 at 1:00 PM EDT

https://engage.mit.edu/event/6584083

  *   COVID and the Arts in Boston: A Roundtable with Representatives from the ICA, the Isabella Stewart Gardner, the MIT Museum, and the List Visual Arts Center

Friday, November 13 2020 at 3:30 PM EST

https://engage.mit.edu/event/6580894
December events:

  *   Dec 4, @3pm: The Trans History of Video Games. Presentation and video game showcase by Whit Pow, assistant professor of Queer and Trans Media Studies at NYU.
https://engage.mit.edu/event/6578336
  *   Dec 3, 10, and 17 @ 12 noon: Virtual Group Workout for Woman-Identified and Nonbinary Students. Led by Emily Lin from MIT Rec.
https://engage.mit.edu/event/6578442
https://engage.mit.edu/event/6578449
https://engage.mit.edu/event/6578453

  1.  Grad Technical Leadership Virtual Workshops (Fall 2020)
The MIT-Gordon Engineering Leadership Program (GEL) and the Graduate Student Advisory Group for the School of Engineering (GradSAGE) encourage you to enhance your MIT graduate experience and enroll in the Graduate Certificate in Technical Leadership Program. Attached and linked is a summary of the interim certificate requirements<https://gelp.mit.edu/grad-students/graduate-certificate-technical-leadership-interim-requirements>.
We would also urge you to attend our upcoming Fall 2020 Grad Technical Leadership Workshop Series, which can be used to help satisfy the certificate program requirements. (*Please note— If you are working towards to the Grad Certificate in in Technical Leadership you only need to attend four out of six workshops over the entire course of your time as a grad student.)
All of the following workshops will be held virtually from 5:30-7:30pm EDT:

  *   Technology Roadmapping and Innovation in the 21st Century (Part 1) - Led by Oli de Weck. Tuesday, November 17
  *   Technology Roadmapping and Innovation in the 21st Century (Part 2) - Led by Oli de Weck. Tuesday, December 1
Register for the certificate program and/or any or all workshops by emailing Lisa Stagnone (lstag at mit.edu<mailto:lstag at mit.edu>)

  1.  Public Guest Lectures: Black Mobility and Safety in the US

For zoom information, please click here.<https://www.media.mit.edu/posts/public-guest-lectures-black-mobility-and-safety-in-the-us/>

MIT Course Numbers: I Fall 2020 MAS.S63, II Spring 2021 MAS.S63

Ekene Ijeoma’s Black Mobility and Safety in the US<https://www.media.mit.edu/courses/black-mobility-and-safety-in-the-us/?utm_source=MLWeekly&utm_campaign=7e93967084-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_09_03_07_40&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_dee7222423-7e93967084-156224157> course this fall will include a series of public guest lectures co-sponsored by ACT around living while Black. The first semester's topics will include birthing, breathing, sleeping, eating, and walking while Black; the second semester will include learning, voting, driving, working, and loving while Black.

The two-semester public lecture series organized by Ekene Ijeoma, founder and director of Poetic Justice at MIT Media Lab, explores issues around mobility (physical, mental, socio-economical, political, etc) and safety for Black Americans. It's organized into two-week topics around living while Black. Read more at: https://www.media.mit.edu/posts/public-guest-lectures-black-mobility-and-safety-in-the-us/.

Fall  (Zoom<https://mit.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUqcO-hrz8qGtDBsu_3dCAa5QAi3_x-VnWp>)

November 17 @ 2-3 pm | Walking while Black II: Topher Sanders (ProPublica)<https://www.propublica.org/series/walking-while-black>

  1.  #BlackInTheIvory: Academia’s Role in Institutional Racism
[cid:image004.png at 01D6BC0A.C139BDD0]
Left to right: Dr. Shardé Davis, Dr. Mareena Robinson Snowden, Dr. James Mickens, and Tanya Ballard Brown
For many Black scientists and researchers, working in academia means weathering systemic bias, micro-aggressions, and isolation. Dr. Shardé Davis, a communications researcher at the University of Connecticut, created #BlackInTheIvory this past summer as a platform for discussing the experiences of Black academics. Dr. Davis joins Dr. Mareena Robinson Snowden, a nuclear engineer at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, and Dr. James Mickens, a computer scientist at Harvard University, to examine academia’s role in perpetuating institutional racism and efforts to change those systems. Tanya Ballard Brown, an editor at National Public Radio (NPR), will moderate. This is a virtual event. 
Thursday, December 3, 2020
5:00 – 6:30 pm
Register here<https://mit.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_0GMGQjZ6T0WDu9B_CvqZZg>: https://mit.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_0GMGQjZ6T0WDu9B_CvqZZg
Click here for the event page<https://commforum.mit.edu/blackintheivory-academias-role-in-institutional-racism-96af14c37f5f>
Speakers
Dr. Shardé Davis is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Connecticut and the creator of #BlackInTheIvory. Dr. Davis’s research examines the way Black women leverage communication in the sistah circle to invoke collective identity, erect and fortify the boundaries around their homeplace, and backfill the necessary resources to return to white/male dominant spaces in American society. Dr. Davis also serves as the Chair of the African American Communication and Culture Division (AACCD) of the National Communication Association.
Dr. James Mickens is the Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science at Harvard University, where his research focuses on the performance, security, and large-scale distributed web services. Prior to his work at Harvard, Dr. Mickens spent six years at Microsoft Research where he worked in the Distributed Systems Group. He is currently on the Board of Directors at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University.
Dr. Mareena Robinson Snowden is a senior engineer in the National Security Analysis Department at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Prior to taking on her current role at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Snowden completed fellowships at the National Nuclear Security Administration and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Nuclear Policy Program. She is the first black woman to earn a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from MIT.
Moderator: Tanya Ballard Brown is an editor at National Public Radio (NPR), where’s she’s covered families of shooting victims in New Orleans, the aftermath of the Pulse nightclub shooting, and sexual assault against people with disabilities. Ballard Brown was a 2019 Nieman Foundation for Journalism Fellow where she studied how comedic journalism — the intersection of humor, satire, and journalism — can help journalists connect with their audiences and build community. Projects she has edited while at NPR and The Washington Post have been awarded Peabody, Murrow, and Gracie awards, among others.
All Communications Forum events are free and open to the general public. This event is co-sponsored by Radius at MIT<https://radius.mit.edu/>.

  1.  MIT Society of Women Engineering UROP Mixer
The MIT Society of Women Engineers (SWE) is excited to host a virtual UROP Mixer the evening of Tuesday December 8th (7-8:30pm EST) for undergraduates to meet graduate students and faculty, and discuss UROP opportunities for IAP/Spring 2021. The event will first feature brief introductions from professors and grad students about their research and available UROP opportunities. Then, we will split everyone into breakout rooms to allow for more detailed discussions. If you are interested in attending, please reach out to shobhita at mit.edu<mailto:shobhita at mit.edu>.

  1.  GCWS Spring 2021 Courses
Consortium for Graduate Studies in Gender, Culture, Women, and Sexuality’s Spring 2021 courses are open to graduate students from any discipline. Applications are due by January 3, 2021 and can be found on our website<https://www.gcws.mit.edu/applications>.  I’m happy to answer any questions.
Women in Science and Academia: Challenges and Policy Solutions<https://www.gcws.mit.edu/new-events/womeninscienceandacademia>
SP21 – Tuesdays, 5:00-8:00PM
Dr. Kathrin Zippel & Dr. Gerhard Sonnert
Using a variety of disciplinary lenses (history, psychology, policy studies, and sociology), this course explores the factors that impede women from successful participation in academia. We focus on the academic workplace and explore organizational factors that create gender inequities in academic careers as well as factors deeply rooted in culture and gender socialization. Furthermore, we discuss programs that promote the advancement of women in academia. A special focus is on science where the underrepresentation of women is most pronounced, and we examine how the situation is different and how it is similar for women in science and women in other academic fields. This seminar is of particular interest for anyone who aims to pursue an academic career and wants to learn about theories of the underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) and in academic leadership positions more broadly.
Death and Feminism<https://www.gcws.mit.edu/new-events/deathandfeminism>
SP21 – Wednesdays, 11:00AM-2:00PM
Dr. Jyoti Puri & Dr. Harleen Singh
Death in feminist thought and writing is both a metaphor and a means to unearthing material conditions that place gendered, sexualized and racialized bodies and non-human entities at risk.  Feminists have written extensively on death, highlighting matters such as sexual and physical violence, reproductive politics, colonial and postcolonial genocides, slavery and its wakes, war, the environment, mourning, witnessing, memorializing, funeralizing and deathways, and more.
Drawing on feminist thought from academic and activist literatures, fiction, and performance, this course assembles an archive of readings on death through a geopolitical lens. It engages matters of governance, nationalisms, empire, settler colonialism, slavery, and migration across a variety of sites—Central and Southern Africa, South Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, Middle-East, and North America, while turning to feminist scholarship in Critical Race Studies, Indigenous Studies, Postcolonialism, Queer and Trans Studies, Disability Studies, Environmental Studies, among others.
Feminist Inquiry<https://www.gcws.mit.edu/new-events/feministinquiry2020>
SP21 – Wednesdays 3:00-6:00PM
Dr. Roberta Micallef & Dr. Anne Blaschke
Feminist Inquiry is an interdisciplinary exploration of feminist ways of learning, thinking, collaborating, listening, and speaking in the interest of producing innovative scholarship and meaningful public engagement. Our seminar will study feminist approaches, theories, and epistemologies that form the intellectual framework necessary to conduct feminist research both within and across the disciplines. Students will produce a range of written work based on their course reading and research—for example, primary and secondary source analyses, teaching documents, and an academic article-quality research essay. We will learn to understand and teach our respective research foci through a feminist lens, and to extend this feminist approach into our public engagement outside academia.
Given the range and diversity of feminist inquiry, the course will not attempt to examine all areas of the field; instead, we will study a curated selection of works that range from the classic to the innovative. Throughout the course, we will consider the complexity and multiplicity of modern feminisms while learning to understand the core power dynamics of feminism across place and time.

  1.  PhagePro – scientist positions open!

PhagePro is a discovery-driven venture spun out of the Camilli Lab at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. We aim to use bacteriophages (phages), which are viruses that specifically target and kill bacteria, to prevent bacterial infections. With the unmitigated rise of antibiotic resistance and the known negative consequences of gut dysbiosis caused by broad-spectrum antibiotics, bacteriophages provide a side effect-free alternative for preventing disease in clinical and community contexts.

PhagePro’s CEO, Mimi Yen, is passionate about increasing diversity in the life sciences. PhagePro is currently hiring for two positions: Scientist I and Scientist II. More details about these roles can be found on the company website<https://www.phageproinc.com/>.

  1.  Scientists in Solidarity

Scientists in Solidarity<https://www.scientistsinsolidarity.org/> (SIS) was founded in June 2020 by three Boston-based friends in the life sciences who have championed and supported each other through the difficulties of navigating  spaces that focus on diversity but not inclusion and equity. We created SIS to address the need for a community that supports BIPOC in STEM. During these unprecedented times, we need to show up for each other as #ScientistsInSolidarity.

  1.  Full-Stack App Developer Internship Opportunity

Position: We are seeking a full-stack developer intern to join our team to refine our mobile application. The back-end currently uses a Python Django framework, and the front-end was built using React Native. The intern will need to dedicate 10-15 hours per week to our venture. Depending on performance and if desired, the intern will also have the opportunity to join our team (still on a part time basis) and receive equity in our business.

Background: Loneliness and depression are on the rise, and younger workers, who make up 67M individuals in the USA, feel it most - 71% say they feel alone due to work and life transitions and the lack of a support system (Cigna). This problem is expected to only worsen post COVID-19 with many jobs will move virtually, giving young workers little to no way to meet new people.

The Company: We are an early-stage startup that aims to revolutionize the way young professionals form social and professional connections to combat the aforementioned issues. Through extensive research, surveys, and conversations, we have found promising evidence for widespread usage of a sleek, easy-to-use mobile application that specifically targets young professionals. We have built a minimum-viable product and were accepted by the Founders Institute Accelerator (has helped founders raise over $950M in funding) as well as Halo Incubator's Fall 2020 cohort. We have started conversations with potential investors and plan to launch our app in Summer 2021.

Requirements:

1) Ability to debug and refine existing code to ensure the app is functioning smoothly and as efficiently as possible

2) Ability to embed additional functionality to enhance the user experience. For example, we would like content displayed to change depending on a user’s location.

3) Not required but a plus - Familiarity of backend app deployment on servers, supporting HTTP and websocket connections (need to host the Django App over multiple server machines with the load distributed with a load balancer if needed or through another hosting platform)

If interested, please email kd2746 at columbia.edu<mailto:kd2746 at columbia.edu> and manasa.grandhi at gmail.com<mailto:manasa.grandhi at gmail.com>

  1.  The Social Scientist Mentorship Program

The Social Scientist is a nonprofit initiative for career guidance and advice in the STEM fields. In order to provide resources for all, The Social Scientist is an online platform for STEM mentorship. Our core program model aims to provide a global community of higher education students and professionals that are accessible and willing to dedicate their time for mentorship. We are an interdisciplinary group of diverse mentors that engage with young students and advocate for those already immersed in the STEM fields.  https://www.thesocialscientist.org

We connect with mentees in an informal setting to encourage a relaxed and easy conversation. The Social Scientist mentors can speak upon their education, career path and provide valuable insight on the nature of their work. From graduate students to industry directors, all of our mentors have diverse backgrounds and endured their own struggles and success with their career trajectory. We currently have enlisted STEM volunteers from across the world in Academia, Engineering, Industry, Writing/Publishing, US Government, Technology, Mathematics and Alternative Careers. We follow up with every inquirer after their chat to ensure a high-quality interaction with the mentors and establish an ongoing relationship between them and The Social Scientist. Additionally, our mentors have set up ongoing communication with their mentees to provide stable and long-term mentorship. Mentorship is critical at every stage of one’s career and we aim to create opportunities in STEM that are not equally and widely available. Currently, 67% of our mentors are women in STEM.

  1.  STEMxx Chats

STEMxx Chats is helping trainees, especially women in STEM, succeed in their career paths and in life. At MIT, our predominant benefit will be to undergrads and graduate students. We will address key gaps in facilitating their career development with particular emphasis on professional development tricks and soft skills that they’re not getting in any systematic way. We hope to offer mentorship, support and guidance while addressing key gaps in facilitating their career development. We hope to create a group culture that is uniquely focused on the person, has a high positive tone, emphasizes positive impact, and seeks to do this in a sustained way and have personal friendships form as opposed to one-and-done activities. We hope that creating a culturally and academically diverse group at MIT will allow you to share similar experiences while benefitting from the resources and events of the greater STEMxx Chats community. Below is the interest form for those wanting to join. We will host monthly meetings in addition to the broader STEMxx Chats events (eg. panels on career decisions, key speakers from top women in STEM, etc). We also have Twitter and Instagram (@stemxx_chats) for those who want to learn about the latest events.

Feel free to reach out to the organizers (Shirley Chen, schenxy at mit.edu and Mariana Avila, avilam at mit.edu) if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing you in the fall.

Website: https://aliceestanton.wixsite.com/aliceestanton/stemxxchats

Interest form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfxDhfUz57xILhrgSkIGwUYufkRhrzyxfbRC81wA6pMQByyQA/viewform?usp=pp_url

  1.  The IDHR Student Advisory Committee is looking for more students to join this year!

MIT’s Institute Discrimination & Harassment Response<http://idhr.mit.edu/> Office (IDHR) is dedicated to preventing and addressing discrimination and discriminatory harassment across the Institute. The Student Advisory Committee<https://idhr.mit.edu/our-office/get-involved/student-advisory-committee> is made up of undergraduate and graduate students from across the Institute who provide feedback and input to the IDHR office regarding our messaging and outreach campaigns and help us most effectively engage with the student body. In addition to monthly committee meetings, the student advisory committee has two subcommittees focused on: 1) institutional advocacy and 2) messaging & partnerships. To get involved, contact idhr-education at mit.edu<mailto:idhr-education at mit.edu>

  1.  MITxHarvard Women in AI Group

Are you interested in Artificial Intelligence? Curious about neural networks, GANs, reinforcement learning, neuro-symbolic approaches, or program induction? If you don’t know what any of those are, but want to learn, think, and discuss not only the technical side of machine learning and AI, but the ethics of AI and applications to biomedicine, cognitive science, environmental sciences, and more! Then we’d love to have you join the MITxHarvard Women in AI Group!!

We are a new initiative spanning both MIT and Harvard, composed of undergraduate and graduate students, seeking to provide a welcoming, supportive community for students excited about AI (no prior background is needed!!)

Our group centers around two prongs: 1) aiming to bring together students of all backgrounds to talk about AI in a supportive community via Zoom paper reading sessions, lightning talks, project sessions, and a fun Slack page! and 2) developing outreach material to get other students excited about AI! We’ve already begun an interview series with amazing women in tech from professors at Harvard, MIT, and Caltech to researchers at DeepMind and Microsoft! This will be posted on our website and YouTube shortly, and we are eager to have more student interviewers on board! If you want to meet other cool students at MIT and Harvard or want to help with our interview series, outreach, and more, please sign-up here: https://tinyurl.com/mitharvardwai<https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftinyurl.com%2Fmitharvardwai%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR09t8hzcjSGIrTn9svLmU5Xhisb1llWs8ly84av5cDf406_47KdVAEuqBo&h=AT1QrLxISgTmJtxzinOvL3tkkcrqcnRyrang_ahmhjmgHzblO5YayvhoLx4euu9Y4KcMHJt4vbf9BbPHiFWnzY8LuV8voyXFims5iCAonHXAMvb6S_fD9Cuv4Wv8RzcWcVhCq-xvtQg>

Feel free to check out our initial website https://web.mit.edu/women-ai/ or reach out to wai_exec at mit.edu  if you have questions or want to learn more!!

  1.  Become a gwaMIT department rep!

gwaMIT is accepting applications for the position of department representatives! As a gwaMIT department rep, you'll build connections across MIT and help in the personal & professional development of graduate womxn. It is also a powerful means to bring about department-level change and strive towards a more equitable and inclusive MIT. The position lasts for one year, with an option for renewal. Read more about the role and responsibilities here<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BepM4QWy2tUO7ju1dkIOt69lb9wJb_DIs9Us_ljVqUA/edit>. Fill out the short application form here<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfxO1KrUGe7rS_tvZsAW8jOOMFNBnv5BdAi4ssn1svoKUqV9w/viewform>. Womxn who are members of underrepresented and minoritized groups are encouraged to apply. The departments with openings are: Sloan, ChemE, Arch, PolSci, HASTS, Humanities, Writing, NSE, CCWCE, CMS, CSB, MAS, CRE, CCE, CTL, EECS. If the position is currently filled, but you are still interested in being involved with gwaMIT, email us to let us know! We have multiple avenues for engagement in gwaMIT's activities and initiatives.

  1.  Sign up for the GradDiversity Newsletter

The GradDiversity Newsletter is a biweekly newsletter that features events, opportunities, and resources for Graduate Students of Color. You can sign up here<https://oge.mit.edu/graddiversity/graddiversity-newsletter/>!

“My mother had a saying: ‘Kamala, you may be the first to do many things, but make sure you’re not the last’”

-Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris

To unsubscribe or change your mailing preferences, please visit: http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/gwamit

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