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<p><br>
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<p>Dear all, <br>
</p>
<p>I've always enjoyed the scientific community in general as a very
open, respectful, and friendly one. Nevertheless, there might be
problems or room for improvement, and it's good to have a forum to
discuss this, again in an open and respectful way. That's how I
understand the initiative started by Vanina and her colleagues. <br>
</p>
<p>The idea of diversity and inclusion should enrich and strengthen
our community, not make people fight against one another. <br>
</p>
<p>Best, <br>
</p>
<p> Gabriele <br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">Am 06.10.21 um 23:00 schrieb Markus
Kroetzsch via PlanetKR:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:0107017c576877a8-95930d2e-df7a-4dfb-a0fa-b4257117d1d3-000000@eu-central-1.amazonses.com">Good
evening,
<br>
<br>
First, let me thank Marco, Magdalena, and Vanina for their work.
This is (as first reactions clearly show ;-) a relevant and useful
thing to have: to gather a better understanding of potential
problems in our community; to support those who encounter actual
obstacles in working in our area; and generally to grow our
research community without compromising on scientific quality or
topical focus. It's also a fairly standard aspect of professional
event organisation in the 2020s, so I don't see a need to have
fundamental arguments here.
<br>
<br>
Secondly, let's keep in mind that, especially in email
communication, we should assume good faith and noble objectives on
all sides (even when not justified: if anyone then feels
misrepresented by our positive interpretation of their intentions,
they can always send another email to clarify ;-). Saying this
might be redundant here, but reading the recent exchange (as
informative as it was), I could see some more and some less
productive directions to continue this discussion ;-)
<br>
<br>
Cheers,
<br>
<br>
Markus
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
On 06/10/2021 20:40, Judy Goldsmith via PlanetKR wrote:
<br>
<blockquote type="cite">Dear Vladimir,
<br>
<br>
As a queer and female person in the greater CS/AI community,
your email made me PROFOUNDLY uncomfortable. I am tenured. I
can now afford to say that yes, I have had experiences at AI and
other CS conferences that make me uncomfortable. I have looked
around the table or conference session room and thought that one
of these folks (me) is not like the others, and voices like mine
or my friends are not being heard. I have heard talks that make
a joke out of objectifying women's bodies, at times when I did
not feel safe objecting. I have objected to things in talks,
and been scolded or shunned, or had my work at that conference
dismissed.
<br>
<br>
It has been years since I attended KR, so I cannot point to
specific incidents. But I am in a position, unlike students and
untenured faculty, to respond. You are asking people to expose
themselves in ways that make them/us feel vulnerable, just so
you can make a point.
<br>
<br>
I am sure that Vanina can quote statistics about retention of
women, people of color, members of the LGBTQ+ community, etc.
The disturbing homogeneity of our field is a major sign. The
lack of trust in your email is another sign. Yes. Yes, we have
been uncomfortable in expressing, in being, who we are.
Suggesting that this might not be the case is another way of
reinforcing our invisibility, our lack of voice in the
community.
<br>
<br>
We are all very busy people. Vanina and many others would not
be spending time and energy and resources on a nonexistent
problem. You can offer support, you can increase that workload,
or you can step aside.
<br>
<br>
With all due respect,
<br>
<br>
Judy Goldsmith
<br>
<br>
<br>
On 10/6/21 2:25 PM, Vladimir Lifschitz via PlanetKR wrote:
<br>
<blockquote type="cite">Dear Vanina,
<br>
<br>
Thank you for your email. I am wondering why you believe that
we need
<br>
to address the problem of building "a diverse and inclusive
community,
<br>
a space where everyone can belong and feel comfortable to
freely express
<br>
who they are.” Have you seen any signs that the problem
exists--that
<br>
any participants of our conferences do not feel comfortable to
freely
<br>
express who they are?
<br>
<br>
Best wishes,
<br>
Vladimir
<br>
<br>
-- <br>
Vladimir Lifschitz
<br>
Department of Computer Science Office: (512) 471-9564
<br>
University of Texas at Austin Fax: (512) 471-8885
<br>
2317 Speedway, Stop D9500 E-mail: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:vl@cs.utexas.edu">vl@cs.utexas.edu</a>
<br>
Austin, TX 78712-1757, USA WWW:
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~vl">http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~vl</a>
<br>
<br>
<blockquote type="cite">Dear colleague,
<br>
<br>
KR is striving to build a diverse and inclusive community, a
space where
<br>
everyone can belong and feel comfortable to freely express
who they are. One
<br>
of the first steps towards meeting this goal is the
definition of a Diversity
<br>
and Inclusion Policy. To make sure that all opinions and
points of view are
<br>
taken into account, we reach out for your help in completing
this survey.
<br>
<br>
Thank you for your time, your feedback is very important in
helping build a
<br>
diverse, open, safe and inclusive atmosphere.
<br>
<br>
The KR21 D&I chairs
<br>
Marco, Magdalena and Vanina
<br>
</blockquote>
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<br>
</blockquote>
_______________________________________________
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<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
<br>
<fieldset class="mimeAttachmentHeader"></fieldset>
<pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">_______________________________________________
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</pre>
</blockquote>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
***************************************************
* Prof. Dr. Gabriele Kern-Isberner
* Technische Universitaet Dortmund
* Dept. of Computer Science
* Chair I - Information Engineering
* 44221 Dortmund, Germany
* Phone: +49-231-755-2045
* Fax: +49-231-755 6555
* email: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:gabriele.kern-isberner@cs.uni-dortmund.de">gabriele.kern-isberner@cs.uni-dortmund.de</a>
***************************************************</pre>
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