‘Addressing Unconscious Bias’

EVANSTON, Ill. --- Guest speaker Michelle “Mikki” Hebl, professor of psychology at Rice University in Houston, will help audience members who attend her upcoming Northwestern University talk better understand how unconscious bias can influence our daily interactions, relationships, academic success, service implementation and leadership.

Hebl will examine the subtle ways in which discrimination is displayed and how such displays might be reversed or stopped by individuals and/or organizations.

Her rescheduled talk, “Addressing Unconscious Bias,” will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, May 12, at Harris Hall, Room 107, 1881 Sheridan Road, on Northwestern’s Evanston campus. The event is free and open to Northwestern students, faculty and staff and the general public. Advance responses are appreciated. To RSVP, visit https://adobeformscentral.com/?f=upNCm1ve5v30vE8MLBe8rg.

Hebl is an applied psychologist who is part of Rice University’s industrial/organizational program. Her research focuses on issues related to diversity and discrimination. Her prime focus is examining subtle ways in which discrimination is displayed and how such displays might be remediated by individuals and/or organizations. For more information on Hebl’s research, visit www.owlnet.rice.edu/~hebl//Mikki_Hebl/Research.html.

Hebl’s May 12 talk is co-sponsored by One Book One Northwestern, the Office of the Provost, the Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, AccessibleNU and the Women’s Center at Northwestern University.

The Women's Center is partnering with One Book One Northwestern to present programming related to the 2014-15 One Book One Northwestern book selection, “Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do,” by social psychologist Claude Steele. In “Whistling Vivaldi,” Steele reflects on his 30-year career investigating the impact of social biases and prejudices on everyday life. Finding that stereotypes can influence behavior and affect performance, he shares important strategies that may prove helpful in lessening their negative effects.

For more information, visit www.northwestern.edu/womenscenter.