Diversity and Inclusivity

The UCI Philosophy department is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive community for all of its faculty, students, and staff. We value a diversity of viewpoints and opinions and believe that this diversity is vital for our work as philosophers and educators.

We are committed to building and maintaining a healthy intellectual and professional community, which works for all its members. The health of this community requires that everyone in the department shares a sense of belonging, mutual respect, and responsibility for our community. Be mindful of your surroundings and the people around you. If you witness unacceptable behavior, speak up when it happens and/or report it afterward.

The UCI Philosophy community does not tolerate discrimination in any form, especially with respect to sex, gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, class, religion, national origin, health or physical ability.

All members of the department are expected to treat others with respect and consideration at all times. Be considerate, respectful, collaborative, and constructive in your interactions with others.

Unacceptable behavior includes, but is not limited to the following:
o   Any conduct which has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive environment.
o   Physical, verbal or psychological abuse of anyone, including students, postdoctoral researchers, faculty, staff or visitors.
o   Disparaging comments related to gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical and mental disability, physical appearance, age, socio-economic status, veteran status, race, creed, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, marital or domestic partnership status, or other protected characteristics.
o   Harassment, intimidation or discrimination in any form.
o   Unwelcome physical contact.
o   Inappropriate use of nudity and/or sexual images or discussion of private sexual experiences that would be deemed offensive to a reasonable person.

To support the department’s efforts with respect to these issues, we have created a departmental committee on diversity and inclusiveness, which includes both faculty members and graduate student representatives. In addition, the department also has appointed a DECADE Faculty Mentor, who supports the graduate student community, with a special focus on supporting graduate students from groups that are underrepresented in philosophy. The current DECADE Mentor is Professor Jeffrey Helmreich (jhelmrei@uci.edu), who also chairs the diversity and inclusiveness committee.

For more on UCI’s efforts to support a diverse, healthy and inclusive community see:
o   https://inclusion.uci.edu/ally-awareness-resources/             
o   https://inclusion.uci.edu/campus-resources/                                                  
o   https://inclusion.uci.edu/practice-inclusion/                                          

For the APA’s resources on diversity and inclusion, see:
o  https://www.apaonline.org/page/divmenu