Committee on Racial Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (REDI)

Concerns about racism and the Society’s lack of racial diversity have circulated at SHOT for many years. But these only rose to prominence in discussions about SHOT’s present and future after the US uprisings of 2020. In response to an upswell from the membership, SHOT created a Standing Committee on Racial Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in 2021-22 to address these concerns in a sustained manner. REDI’s primary goal is to address systemic and epistemic racism at SHOT and in the global intellectual field it represents. Along the way and as an integral part of this endeavor, REDI is also working on other inclusion challenges, particularly those related to accessibility.

To succeed, this endeavor requires considerable labor, as well as material support. Please consider contributing to our work by donating here! If you’re interested in volunteering for the committee, please write [email protected].

REDI’s work so far

• Presidential plenary sessions at SHOT annual meetings:
  • Community Engaged Research (2021).
  • Systemic and Epistemic Racism in the History of Technology (2021). A written version of this latter panel opens the October 2022 issue of T&C, and consists of a dialogue among Chandra Bhimull, Gabrielle Hecht, Edward Jones-Imhotep, Chakanetsa Mavhunga, Lisa Nakamura, and Asif Siddiqi.
  • New work in Disability Histories of Technology (2022).
• Created a Race and Technologies Prize, for outstanding scholarship that explicitly explores the multiple intersections and junctures between race/ethnicity and the history of technology. Diana Madril was the first recipient of the award at the 2022 SHOT annual meeting.
• Create a preliminary disability access plan for annual SHOT meetings (led by Bess Williamson).
• Supported a conference in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Jan 4-8 2023 as part of SHOT’s broader Africa Initiative. This initiative is in development and includes the establishment of an Africa-based network for historians of technology, an MOU between SHOT and the University of Dar es Salaam, an agreement with Johns Hopkins University Press to provide gratis memberships and access to Technology and Culture for scholars based on the African continent, and more. A newly appointed steering committee for this initiative is working on future plans.
• Launched initial fundraising efforts to support REDI activities – many thanks to our generous donors! To contribute to REDI, click here.

Ongoing plans

• A race & technology bibliography, building on the crowd-sourced bibliography launched by EDITH members, in partnership with the Institute for the History of Science & Technology at the University of Toronto.
• A trans-hemispheric seminar on Race and the History of Technology, focusing on scholars from the Global South, 11-15 September 2023, in partnership with Drexel University and Tapuya: Latin American Science, Technology and Society (led by Tiago Saraiva, Amy Slaton, Vivette García Deister, Edward Jones-Imhotep, and Jason Ludwig).
• Ramp up fundraising efforts to support REDI activities: to contribute to REDI, click here.

We welcome comments and suggestions from the SHOT community as we continue to develop this initiative. Please address these directly to [email protected].

REDI Committee 2023

Gabrielle Hecht (REDI chair & SHOT President)
Charnell Chasten Long
Jason Ludwig
L. Ruth Rand
Tiago Saraiva
Sonja Schmid

REDI Committee 2022

Gabrielle Hecht (REDI chair & SHOT President-Elect)
Tiffany Nichols
L. Ruth Rand
Tiago Saraiva
Bess Williamson