Outreach/Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and the CTP
The Center for Theoretical Physics is committed to helping with diversity, equity and inclusion with the CTP, MIT and the world outside of MIT. We are also invested in outreach in the local community and beyond to help educate about theoretical physics and to be of assistance in areas such as STEM.
Community Service in the Department Related to Outreach
- Hosting students through the MIT Summer Research Program (MSRP)
- Chairing MIT Summer research program (MSRP) Admissions
- Co-Chairing SERC [social and ethical responsibilities of computing] working group on Computing, Data, and Antiracism.
- Participating in the construction of an access online resource, “MIT Case Studies on Social and Ethical Responsibilities of Computing”
- Serving as Chair of the Faculty
- Member of MIT Energy Education Task Force and Energy Minor Oversight Committee
- Served on Task Force 2021 and Beyond in the Community and Culture Livestream\
- Member of the Physics Values Committee
- Chair of Early Career and Equity Committee for IAIFI
- Chair of the committee organizing Strike for Black Lives events for the CTP
Science Policy
- Chair of the DEI committee of the International Symposium on Lattice Field Theory
- Chair of the DEI committee of the USQCD collaboration
- Member and Chair of APS Panel on Public Affairs
- (Founding) Advisor to Lahore (Pakistan) University of Management and Science, School of Science and Engineering
Public Engagement About Research
- Public Lectures at the Aspen Center for Research
- Guest speaker on Sean Carroll’s Mindscape Podcast
- High school outreach with Theorynet
- Outreach at elementary and middle schools visiting classes and giving presentations
Volunteering/Tutoring/mentoring type work
- Mentoring and problem resolution in the faculty-student environment
- Answering inquiries from high school students who contact me asking about what it takes to be a physicist
Climate/culture/community-building things on MIT’s campus or elsewhere
- Anti-Racism Reading Club: Open to all CTP members the group meets regularly to discuss readings related to current issues on racism and history of racism with the aim of learning and thinking about anti-racism and informing ourselves and our actions and activism
- Committee on Racial Initiatives in the CTP with faculty, student and postdoc membership
- CTP provided funding for CTP postdocs/students to attend physics conferences that serve underrepresented minority groups (e.g. the annual meeting of the National Society of Black Physicists), separate from existing travel funds
- Development of a a seminar code of conduct
- Pro-active on trying to bring MLK Scholars to the CTP
- Co-authored both Particles for Justice letters, I’m not sure if we want to count that, it’s not an opportunity for others to get involved (also it’s identifying – but it’s already public information that Daniel and I were coauthors)
- Served as a panelist for the “Rising Stars in Physics” workshops for early-career female physicists
- Participating in PhysPOP (freshman pre-orientation)
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Additional Resources
Physics Graduate Student Council
Physics Values Committee
Physics Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Page
Cambridge Science Festival