The Diversity Campus Read of Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People will be launched on Monday, Aug. 25, with a conversation about hidden bias led by Jeroan Allison, MD, MS, professor of quantitative health sciences and medicine and associate provost for health disparities research, and Suzanne Cashman, ScD, professor of family medicine & community health and director of community health for the Department of Family Medicine & Community Health.
Members of the UMass Medical School and UMass Memorial community are encouraged to attend the conversation called “Exploring Unconscious Bias,” which takes place on Monday, Aug. 25, from noon to 1 p.m. in the Faculty Conference Room on the Worcester campus. Doors will open for lunch at 11:30 a.m.
The Diversity Campus Read program is designed to provide a campus-wide learning opportunity through literature, to encourage a common reading experience and to develop a sense of community at UMMS and UMass Memorial Health Care. All members of the UMMS and UMass Memorial communities are encouraged to read the Diversity Campus Read selection and join the discussion.
Blindspot explores the hidden biases that all people “carry from a lifetime of exposure to cultural attitudes about age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, social class, sexuality, disability status and nationality,” according to the authors Mahzarin R. Banaji and Anthony G. Greenwald. Banaji will be at UMMS on Oct. 28 for campus-wide event dedicated to discussion of the book.
Sponsored by the Diversity and Inclusion Office, the Civility Subcommittee of the Council on Equal Opportunity and Diversity, and the Center for Health Equity Intervention Research, the Aug. 25 conversation provides an opportunity for individuals and the community to gather and talk about the issues presented in the book, copies of which will be available at the event.
To RSVP for Exploring Unconscious Biases, visit the event webpage on the UMMS intranet.
