OVERVIEW
Welcome
Department of Psychology, Craine Building and Humphrey Hall, Queen's University
Luis Flores
Assistant Professor
Interim Committee Chair - (July 2022 - December 2022)
Monica Castelhano
Professor
(Committee Chair - incoming January 2023)
Vera Vine
Assistant Professor
(Faculty Representative)
Tara Karasewich
Accommodations and Learning Management Systems Assistant
(Staff Representative)
Eliana Brehaut
Graduate Representative
Lily Martin
Graduate Representative
Charlotte Lam
Undergraduate Representative
Sheryn Basham
Undergraduate Representative
Please feel free to contact us by email at : edi.psychology@queensu.ca
The EDI committee has been working on several initiatives.
To see a timeline of what we have done and what we are planning to do, read our Timeline PDF (PDF, 159 KB).
To learn more about past and upcoming initiatives (e.g., reading groups, 15/15s), visit our Initiatives page.
To access the resources we have developed, visit our EDI Resources page.
To view summaries of our meetings and other communications from the EDI committee (e.g., social justice support notes), visit our Updates and Communications page.
As we work together to make lasting and meaningful change in our department, we welcome your feedback on ongoing initiatives, opportunities for improvement, and other issues relating to equity, diversity, and inclusion. Please feel free to share your comments, ideas, and opinions with us—anonymously or not.
If you would like to connect via email, please message us at: edi.psychology@queensu.ca
To see a summary of a recent evaluation of events hosted by the EDI committee, click here. (PDF, 103 KB)
To see a breakdown of EDI activities in 2021-2021 by type and equity-deserving group served/addressed, click here. (PDF, 119 KB)
Goals and Mandate
OUR GOAL - The goal of the Psychology EDI committee is to work towards lasting and meaningful change that makes our department diverse, equitable, and inclusive in accordance with social justice principles. These principles include that: (a) progressive change needs to happen within structures, individuals, and our discipline; (b) that change is everyone’s responsibility, and should not be disproportionately shouldered by marginalized groups; (c) and that power, privilege, and majoritized groups need to be named and addressed as well as oppression, marginalization, and minoritized groups.
OUR FOCUS - We focus on EDI work around the five equity-deserving groups identified by the Canadian government and/or Queen’s University: (1) members of racialized groups/visible minorities, (2) women, (3) Indigenous/Métis/Inuit/First Nations peoples, (4) people with disabilities, and (5) LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) people. Some people clearly exist at the intersection of multiple oppressions that these five groups are subject to (e.g., not just misogyny, but misogynoir or transmisogyny). We also seek to work to improve the department for other minoritized groups, e.g., first-generation students, low income people, international students, etc. EDI needs and actions sometimes overlap for these groups and sometimes are distinct and the EDI committee aims to be thoughtful around shared and specific efforts. We focus on long-term change, but also a limited number of urgent issues as they arise.
OUR WORK - The committee’s work is to make change and we focus on the following areas, though not exclusively: teaching, supervision, research, service, climate, and hiring/recruitment. To that end, we develop principles, priorities, and procedures to help guide our work. We work with representatives of graduate students, undergraduate students, and faculty to inform and focus on change at all levels. We are a departmental committee, and will be a standing item on the Psychology Meeting agenda to share progress and invite involvement.
OUR TASKS - Some of our specific tasks include the following. We share guidance documents with the department that have suggestions, recommendations, and best practices. We organize invited speakers and training sessions. We will develop an annual plan and, in consultation with the Department Head, we will develop a budget; and we will report regularly on EDI progress from our committee and the larger department, including successes, barriers, and recommendations. We query the department to understand patterns of EDI activity, recruit volunteers for EDI initiatives, etc. We communicate with the department and sometimes outside of it, and develop notes about urgent EDI issues for the department to share. We partner with groups within our department or outside of it to meet committee goals. We consult on department materials related to EDI concerns when we are able to, with advance notice and encourage EDI being taken into consideration early in project development so there is time for us to give meaningful feedback. We bring EDI issues to the department, including to specific committees, for discussion and/or action. Because we focus on department-level structural change, we do not act on or investigate EDI complaints about individuals (we can direct those with issues to those who can), nor do we do area-specific work though we can support areas in their work.
Follow Us
