Author: Sally

A panel discussion on what the research tells us and what we can do about it.

June 5th, 2012, 3:00-5:00pm
Liu Institute for Global Issues Multipurpose Room

Speaker: Gordon B. Moskowitz, Lehigh University, Psychology Department

Discussants: 

• Blye Frank, Dean, UBC Faculty of Education
• Cheryl Ward, Provincial Lead, Provincial Health Services Authority Indigenous Cultural Competency Training Program
• Heather Frost, UBC Centre for Health Education Scholarship (CHES)Sanzida Habib, UBC Centre for Race Autobiography Gender and Age (RAGA)
• Jennifer Grewing, Norwegian Centre for Minority Health Research (NAKMI), Oslo University Hospital, Ullevål

Moderator: Shafik Dharamsi, Faculty Associate in Residence, Liu Institute for Global Issues

Abstract:

Most people are not trained to stereotype, but naively learn stereotypes through processes of socialization. Why are stereotypes so often used, and why does this happen even when we do not realize we stereotype, indeed even when we are confident we do not and would not? The recent rise of fields such as behavioral economics, social neuroscience, behavioral medicine, and legal psychology each have ties to the 50 year old literature on the psychology of bias and the manner in which judgment, decision making, and behavior is impacted by forces we do not recognize and that operate outside conscious awareness, not open to accurate introspection. While we may be open to accepting there is bias in our financial decisions and perception of physical objects, we resist the extension of this idea to the domain of interpersonal bias and stereotyping. When we do embrace the possibility of prejudice, most people are motivated to counteract or control this bias – they do not wish to stereotype or exhibit prejudice, and strive to compensate for their bias. How accurate are these attempts at control? What strategies of pursuing these goals will create undesired consequences, perhaps ironically increasing bias? The case of stereotyping in the medical context is unusual because stereotypes are not incidentally learned, but aspects of them are explicitly taught – these are base rates that connect social groups with predisposition to disease and cultural competencies taught as part of a practitioner’s training. It is proposed that learning about accurate stereotypes that are useful for one’s work often leads to undesired consequences associated with those stereotypes that contribute to health disparity. And these processes, as with bias outside the medical domain, are not aware to practitioners and are thus difficult to control. Yet control, as with bias outside the medical domain, is possible.

Co-hosted by:
Liu Institute for Global Issues’ Global Health Network, Centre for Relationship Based Care, Faculty of Education, Institute for Aboriginal Health, Centre for Health Education Scholarship, Centre for Intercultural Communication, and the Centre for Race Autobiography Gender and Age.

The 9th Annual Western Regional International Health Conference
April 27-29, 2012, University of Washington, Seattle

Closing Session, with mixer by the Critical Development Forum
April 29, 2012 — 3:00pm-5:00pm
Kane Hall 130

Where do we go from here? After all the discussions of hidden topics in global health, what do we actually do? What should students with good intentions do to learn about global health and make a difference?

This panel discussion and mixer co-hosted by the Critical Development Forum (CDF) and Global Health Resource Center (GHRC) is a space to share what we’ve learned, shared, and experienced during the conference and – crucially – find a few ways to move forward. We will ask panelists to discuss their experiences engaging ethically with global health work abroad and how they continue to make a global impact from here at home. Afterwards, join us for a mixer to make connections before the conference adjourns! The CDF and GHRC will have tables with information about opportunities to get involved in global health ethically at home and abroad, and ways to stay informed.

Moderator:

• Dean Chahim, BS Civil and Environmental Engineering, BA Global Development and Social Change
  Co-founder, Critical Development Forum
  Member of Engineers without Borders

Speakers

• Shafik Dharamsi, BEd, MSc, PhD
  Assistant Professor Family Practice, University of British Columbia
  Lead Faculty, Global Health Network
  Team Leader, Ethics of International Engagement and Service Learning (EIESL)
• Aaron Keating, MPA
  Communications Director, Economic Opportunity Institute (EOI)
• Onyinye Edeh, BA
  1st year MPH student from Enugu State, Nigeria

The 9th Annual Western Regional International Health Conference
April 27-29, 2012, University of Washington, Seattle

Pre-Conference Event
April 27, 2012 — 3:30pm-5:00pm
Savery Hall 260 – Open to Public
Speakers: Shafik Dharamsi & Matt Whiteman

Please join us for a special pre-keynote event co-sponsored by the Critical Development Forum to learn about the principles and creation of the Ethics of International Engagement and Service Learning (EIESL) project at the University of British Columbia (UBC). As more students from the UW and universities across the country travel abroad to study and serve, ethical dilemmas emerge. What can we at the UW do to minimize the harm and maximize the benefit of this upswing in global engagement for both students and host communities? Come to hear and dialogue with students and faculty from our colleagues at UBC working to “ethicize” the way their campus engages globally.

The EIESL Project at the University of British Columbia is a participatory action initiative designed to explore the ethical implications of service abroad and to enable ethically inspired action in international engagement activities. Motivations for service can range from a positive desire to respond to social disparities and to promote social justice, as well as, and sometimes primarily to practice skills, secure research grants, enhance a resume, and opportunities for travel to “exotic” places. Aboriginal communities in Canada, after years of frustration with efforts they felt did not seem committed to the community began to impose rules for conducting projects in their communities, leading guidelines known as “the 4 Rs”: Respect, Relevance, Reciprocity and Responsibility.

Please join us at this pre-conference dialogue event to learn about the EIESL project from faculty, staff and student perspectives, and to explore opportunities for developing our collective capacity for ethically engaged action at the University of Washington.

Learn more about the EIESL project on their blog and extensive web-based guidebook.

The Accessible Science Initiative will be hosting a Lecture Series entitled, “Science without Borders”. The main aim of these lectures is to highlight and increase awareness of scientists in the developing world who have demonstrated high quality research. Scientists will give a presentation about their work, as well as their extensive achievements and the challenges they have encountered in their countries.

The ASI is pleased to introduce the first speaker:

Dr. Salim S. Abdool Karim (From South Africa) pro vice-chancellor (Research), University of KwaZulu-Natal; Director of Center for the AIDS Program of Research in South Africa; & Professor of Clinical Epidemiology, Columbia University.

Monday, November 7 , 2011

Life Science Building, LSC 3

12:30 pm – 1:30 pm

These lectures are brought to you thanks to the kind support from the Microbiology and Immunology Dept, The Neglected Global Disease Initiative and the VP-Research Office.