To be human is to be biased, an unavoidable truth. Biases may lead us to making decisions that not only harm those around us, but ourselves as well. This FIG, which is sponsored by the Committee on Inclusion and Equity, will explore how to recognize and understand the biases that we have, but didn t know about. It will also provide participants with the tools for having healthy dialogue around difficult issues that are often connected to biases. We are optimistic that with the connection of these two parts we can improve our relationships with students, colleagues and the world at large.

In the first semester of this FIG, facilitated by Peter Santiago (Access-Ability Services) and Stuart Parker (Behavioral Sciences), we will be reading Everyday Bias: Identifying and Navigating Unconscious Judgments in Our Daily Lives by Howard J. Ross. Starting with the first chapter If you are human, you are biased Ross will guide us through revealing and confronting our biases which often have a negative impact on the world around us. As a group we will discuss the connections these biases have to the inequities we see around us.