UFUF Physics IDEA Resources Home Page

This resource site is intended for all individuals seeking engagement with the Department of Physics to achieve its mission with emphasis on activities promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). We seek your participation and offer the resources below for your consideration.

Click on the headings below to reveal additional content.

Upcoming Events:

Gators Together certificate courses

Archive of Past Events

Welcoming Your Contributions!

This site is a work in progress. We welcome your contributions and feedback. Please send your contributions to Shawn Weatherford.

Last update: August 26, 2022

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Terminology

A safe space is one where a marginalized person can safely voice their concerns to a supportive community.
A brave space acknowledges that even in safe spaces it takes tremendous courage to share one's concerns.

Readings

The following readings introduce alliance members to anti-racism and other topics central to the focus of UF Physics IDEA:

Herrera, S. et al (2020). Physics from an Underrepresented Lens: What I Wish Others Knew. The Physics Teacher 58, 294

DiAngelo, R. and Sensoy, O. (2017). "We Are All for Diversity, but . . .”: How Faculty Hiring Committees Reproduce Whiteness and Practical Suggestions for How They Can Change. Harvard Educational Review Vol 87, No 4.

Where are the Black Physicists? Science Friday segment March 4, 2022

Race, Racism, and Diversity books from UF Press for checkout at 134 Tigert Hall

UF Managing Bias Works Cited

AiP TEAM-UP Report (project overview here)

A Global Approach to the Gender Gap in Mathematics, Computing, and Natural Science: How to Measure It, How to Reduce It

Effective Practices for Physics Programs (EP3)

UF Resources

Smathers Library Online Exhibit: Black Thursday, UF's Black Campus Movement

UF Enrollment Data Dashboard

Economic Diversity and Student Outcomes at the University of Florida

CLAS DEI Resources

Trainings and Personal Development

Gators Together. A certificate program offered through the Office for Training and Organizational Development that provides individual employees and supervisors a series of courses related to diversity and inclusion.

The following trainings are available for everyone to learn about topics connected to equity, diversity, and inclusion. Topics include:

Implicit Bias
Bystander

Teaching Resources

Click on each of the tabs below to review resources to improve the inclusivity of your teaching.

Syllabi and Policies

Designing an inclusive course syllabus:

An example diversity and inclusion statement:

Physics is practiced and advanced by a scientific community of individuals with diverse backgrounds and identities and is open and welcoming to everyone. The instructional team recognizes the value in diversity, equity and inclusion in all aspects of this course. This includes, but is not limited to differences in race, ethnicity, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, age, socioeconomic status, religion and disability. Students may have opportunities to work together in this course. We expect respectful student collaborations such as attentive listening and responding to contributions of all teammates.

Physics, like all human endeavors, is something that is learned. Our aim is to foster an atmosphere of learning that is based on inclusion, transparency and respect for all participants. We acknowledge the different needs and perspectives we bring to our common learning space and strive to provide everyone with equal access. All students meeting the course prerequisites belong here and are well positioned for success.

Classroom Environment

The Case for Inclusive Teaching

Pronouns and Gender Identity

The nearest gender neutral restroom is in Larson Hall (1st floor, near elevator). This restroom is also ADA compliant. Reitz Union does not contain a gender neutral restroom.

Locations of gender neutral restrooms on UF's Gainesville Campus

Be cognizant of gender stereotypes when writing physics problems involving named humans. Small changes like using they/them/their instead of he/him/his pronouns reflects a broader physics identity than what currently exists in physics textbooks.

Preferred Name and Pronouns on Canvas

Canvas users may update the displayed name in Canvas and specify pronouns.

From eLearning Student Help FAQs: Canvas uses the “Display Name” as set in myUFL. The Display Name is what you want people to see in the UF Directory, such as “Ally” instead of “Allison.” To update your display name, go to one.ufl.edu, click on the dropdown at the top right, and select “Directory Profile.” Click “Edit” on the right of the name panel, uncheck “Use my legal name” under “Display Name,” update how you wish your name to be displayed, and click “Submit” at the bottom.

Pronouns on Zoom

UFL Zoom has turned on the pronouns feature. See this support article for instructions on how to define your pronouns and enable them on conferences.