<![CDATA[Woke as Science]]>23e9fa62-da6e-5cfe-8457-755ac4673947Sat, 29 Jun 2024 12:03:53 +0000Captivate.fmConstance Sommerey Darian Meachamhttps://artwork.captivate.fm/e41ef4cd-0fac-4faf-9731-ccecbb73cf76/7c080-GzvN0eseXLZSRasIw5.jpgWoke as ScienceConstance Sommerey Darian MeachamConstance Sommerey Darian MeachamHow did a term that used to signify an attentiveness to injustice come to be wielded as a stick to beat political opponents and effectively end conversations?... an accusation coming from left and right of being ‘hysterically’ sensitive, irrational, anti-freedom of speech, anti-science or anti-progress. If some see wokeness as an outrageously unreasonable response to any perceived slight, others connect it to a dangerous identity politics leading to the further fragmentation of the left in the light of a globally unified far-right. The strange thing is that most of us actually agree with the underlying premise: addressing injustices in our classrooms, in (access to) research and society at large. The idea behind this podcast and hence its title is to play with and explore exactly these associations of the term 'woke' and its associated expressions. We aim to unpack underlying assumptions and work through some of the ideas that move our community and animate the current debate. We do not want to shy away from a label that has turned toxic but want to dissect the key ideas and debates behind the ‘woke wars’. Relevant guests help us in this endeavour. Send us an email for feedback/questions: wokeasscience@maastrichtuniveristy.nlhttps://woke-as-science.captivate.fmtrueepisodicnopodcastShould the university speak for you?Should the university speak for you?Should universities take positions on political issues or try to be impartial fora for open, evidence-based debate and deliberation? Constance and Darian discuss that universities cannot escape having a political role no matter how hard they might try. But this realization then raises the question of who should decide what issues or controversies the university should have a voice on, and who decides what the university should say? In advanced knowledge societies where universities play important political roles, should they become more democratic?

]]>Should universities take positions on political issues or try to be impartial fora for open, evidence-based debate and deliberation? Constance and Darian discuss that universities cannot escape having a political role no matter how hard they might try. But this realization then raises the question of who should decide what issues or controversies the university should have a voice on, and who decides what the university should say? In advanced knowledge societies where universities play important political roles, should they become more democratic?

]]>f0a6b1e7-ca1d-472a-a865-b28901581797Sat, 29 Jun 2024 09:00:00 +020040:21truefull24242Constance Sommerey Darian MeachamSolidarity now!Solidarity now!Everybody seems to want solidarity, solidarity with Gaza, with Ukraine, with local marginalised communities... But what is solidarity actually, and why is it such a good thing? As director of the UM Diversity Office Constance is often asked to be in solidarity with many people, groups and causes, but what does this mean in practice, what are the demands that solidarity places on us? As individuals but also as institutions? We spoke to Francesco Tava, one of Europe's most exciting solidarity researchers and tried to figure out what is this thing that everyone wants more of? How do we get it, and can we have too much of a good thing?

]]>Everybody seems to want solidarity, solidarity with Gaza, with Ukraine, with local marginalised communities... But what is solidarity actually, and why is it such a good thing? As director of the UM Diversity Office Constance is often asked to be in solidarity with many people, groups and causes, but what does this mean in practice, what are the demands that solidarity places on us? As individuals but also as institutions? We spoke to Francesco Tava, one of Europe's most exciting solidarity researchers and tried to figure out what is this thing that everyone wants more of? How do we get it, and can we have too much of a good thing?

]]>30ce821d-9139-462a-a477-b5001c751b54Thu, 11 Apr 2024 09:00:00 +020053:59truefull23232Constance Sommerey Darian MeachamWoke ChatGPTWoke ChatGPTLarge Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT seem to be awash in ethical problems like bias, hidden labour, lack of transparency, energy use…but since when did they become too Woke? When Constance and Darian enlisted ChatGPT to expand their horizons into conservative and far-right ideas they ended up in the same liberal bubble as always, what gives? Thankfully, data scientist Jerry Spanakis was on hand to try to explain what’s going on and how both training data and tweaking by socially liberal engineers can lead to a liberal status quo being reproduced by some models. Is this such a bad thing? Listen and find out.

]]>Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT seem to be awash in ethical problems like bias, hidden labour, lack of transparency, energy use…but since when did they become too Woke? When Constance and Darian enlisted ChatGPT to expand their horizons into conservative and far-right ideas they ended up in the same liberal bubble as always, what gives? Thankfully, data scientist Jerry Spanakis was on hand to try to explain what’s going on and how both training data and tweaking by socially liberal engineers can lead to a liberal status quo being reproduced by some models. Is this such a bad thing? Listen and find out.

]]>f209c396-abbd-4028-8443-35c3adfc4547Wed, 13 Mar 2024 09:00:00 +020057:39truefull22222Constance Sommerey Darian MeachamEnglishizationEnglishizationSometime this Spring (2024), Maastricht University will have to submit a plan to the Dutch government explaining how we will “considerably decrease” the amount of English Language programmes. Why is this happening? What’s the problem with studying in English? According to researchers René Gabriëls and Bob Wilkinson, it’s got a lot to do with feelings of linguistic injustice. We were not so easily convinced and invited them for a talk.

]]>Sometime this Spring (2024), Maastricht University will have to submit a plan to the Dutch government explaining how we will “considerably decrease” the amount of English Language programmes. Why is this happening? What’s the problem with studying in English? According to researchers René Gabriëls and Bob Wilkinson, it’s got a lot to do with feelings of linguistic injustice. We were not so easily convinced and invited them for a talk.

]]>2ce8ad91-ca80-406a-a546-f01bac0ddb28Wed, 07 Feb 2024 09:00:00 +020001:06:35truefull21212Constance Sommerey Darian MeachamTeaser Season 2Teaser Season 2Woke as Science is back for Season 2!

Find out about some of the topics we are going to discuss this season.

]]>Woke as Science is back for Season 2!

Find out about some of the topics we are going to discuss this season.

]]>ccdbf6cc-c273-4ce2-97a3-e427cd2fd595Thu, 14 Dec 2023 09:00:00 +020011:33truefull222Constance Sommerey Darian MeachamDecolonizationDecolonizationTrying to ‘decolonize’ a curriculum? Better speak to postcolonial Marxist scholar Faisal Hamadah first. That's what we did and we learned a lot.

]]>Trying to ‘decolonize’ a curriculum? Better speak to postcolonial Marxist scholar Faisal Hamadah first. That's what we did and we learned a lot.

]]>026ee1fe-9132-4892-8b7e-e28bb0697af0Mon, 26 Jun 2023 09:00:00 +020045:24truefull16161Constance Sommerey Darian MeachamOn Speaking UpOn Speaking UpSpeaking up, voicing concerns, calling out – there are many ways to give a less threatening spin to the term ‘complaining’. However we want to call this act, it is necessary in any organisation to be able to alert people to and discuss biases, blind spots and injustices. While there are often (complaint) structures present to facilitate such processes, speaking up is not easy. It comes with anger and frustrations and is often met with anger and frustrations. We invited BA student Sophia Longwe who has done her fair share of speaking up to give some insights and tips for finding the courage and dealing with the repercussions of putting yourself out there as a complainer. 


]]>Speaking up, voicing concerns, calling out – there are many ways to give a less threatening spin to the term ‘complaining’. However we want to call this act, it is necessary in any organisation to be able to alert people to and discuss biases, blind spots and injustices. While there are often (complaint) structures present to facilitate such processes, speaking up is not easy. It comes with anger and frustrations and is often met with anger and frustrations. We invited BA student Sophia Longwe who has done her fair share of speaking up to give some insights and tips for finding the courage and dealing with the repercussions of putting yourself out there as a complainer. 


]]>514526f4-7db8-471c-8de7-bc9568fee008Mon, 22 May 2023 09:00:00 +020031:17truefull15151Constance Sommerey Darian MeachamWill the real progressives please stand up?Will the real progressives please stand up?Ok, let’s all sit down for a moment. Everyone seems to think that they are the real progressives while the others simply are not. The Others are either too conservative, too ‘woke’, too blinded by the system, too unreasonable, against academic freedom or not really interested in addressing questions of social injustice. In this episode, we try to make some sense of these claims to ‘real’ progressivism. 


]]>Ok, let’s all sit down for a moment. Everyone seems to think that they are the real progressives while the others simply are not. The Others are either too conservative, too ‘woke’, too blinded by the system, too unreasonable, against academic freedom or not really interested in addressing questions of social injustice. In this episode, we try to make some sense of these claims to ‘real’ progressivism. 


]]>0db0cf57-e6d8-47df-8b6b-72579fd6b7daWed, 29 Mar 2023 09:00:00 +020040:20truefull14141Constance Sommerey Darian MeachamIs the university too left?Is the university too left?Are universities too left wing for their own good? Andreas de Block (KU Leuven), the author of a forthcoming book Is links gewoon slimmer [Is the left just smarter?] thinks so, and he’s worried about the effect it’s having on research. We try to figure out what he means, what worries him and ask some questions about what it means to be left or right wing in today’s political and academic context. These questions include: What are conservative values that are being neglected by too left-wing scientists? Are contemporary right-wing politics inherently anti-science and anti-intellectual? And how do these concerns about ideological bias in the university relate to conflicts between ‘woke’ and anti-’woke’ self-identifying leftists in the academy? 

Trigger warning: this episode includes discussions on perceptions of homosexuality and its relation to previous versions of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. This episode also contains some mockery of the Republican Party (USA). 

]]>Are universities too left wing for their own good? Andreas de Block (KU Leuven), the author of a forthcoming book Is links gewoon slimmer [Is the left just smarter?] thinks so, and he’s worried about the effect it’s having on research. We try to figure out what he means, what worries him and ask some questions about what it means to be left or right wing in today’s political and academic context. These questions include: What are conservative values that are being neglected by too left-wing scientists? Are contemporary right-wing politics inherently anti-science and anti-intellectual? And how do these concerns about ideological bias in the university relate to conflicts between ‘woke’ and anti-’woke’ self-identifying leftists in the academy? 

Trigger warning: this episode includes discussions on perceptions of homosexuality and its relation to previous versions of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. This episode also contains some mockery of the Republican Party (USA). 

]]>4e278d4f-3dc0-4ffb-ae17-5980ad793200Thu, 02 Mar 2023 19:21:00 +020044:36truefull13131Constance Sommerey Darian MeachamTrigger WarningsTrigger WarningsTrigger Warnings – a common courtesy? An absolute necessity? Student coddling? A first step on the slippery slope towards censorship in our classrooms? It seems the topic of Trigger Warnings is at least baffling, if not chilling, to teachers whereas many students are baffled precisely by their teachers’ aversion to Trigger Warnings. Enough discussion fodder for us to invite Adina Petre, a psychotherapist specialised in trauma, and discuss the (un)usefulness of Trigger Warnings in higher education. 

]]>Trigger Warnings – a common courtesy? An absolute necessity? Student coddling? A first step on the slippery slope towards censorship in our classrooms? It seems the topic of Trigger Warnings is at least baffling, if not chilling, to teachers whereas many students are baffled precisely by their teachers’ aversion to Trigger Warnings. Enough discussion fodder for us to invite Adina Petre, a psychotherapist specialised in trauma, and discuss the (un)usefulness of Trigger Warnings in higher education. 

]]>4fb9432c-787d-48a1-a306-b1fab6353b51Thu, 02 Mar 2023 19:20:00 +020050:20truefull12121Constance Sommerey Darian MeachamIntersectionalityIntersectionalityWelcome to the first episode of the "Woke as Science" Podcast! The first guest on this podcast is Sophie Withaeckx who is assistant professor in Philosophy at Maastricht University Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASoS).

You can find more information and Sophie's reading recommendations here: https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/about-um/diversity-inclusivity/woke-science

Enjoy this first episode and stay tuned for our next ones!

]]>Welcome to the first episode of the "Woke as Science" Podcast! The first guest on this podcast is Sophie Withaeckx who is assistant professor in Philosophy at Maastricht University Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASoS).

You can find more information and Sophie's reading recommendations here: https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/about-um/diversity-inclusivity/woke-science

Enjoy this first episode and stay tuned for our next ones!

]]>ac65a1d8-6db1-43c3-98ec-348e6397f7fbThu, 02 Mar 2023 19:19:00 +020053:30falsefull11111Constance Sommerey Darian MeachamDoes "Wokeness" Threaten Academic Freedom?Does "Wokeness" Threaten Academic Freedom?Welcome to the "Woke as Science" Podcast by Constance  Sommerey and Darian Meacham.

Some of you might already know this episode as it was recorded with the DSMINDSETS Podcast in June of this year. Constance and Darian now started their own podcast called "Wokeasscience" within the Diversity and Inclusivity Office at UM.

Here you can find more information: https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/about-um/diversity-inclusivity/woke-science

Enjoy the episode and stay tuned for the next ones!

]]>Welcome to the "Woke as Science" Podcast by Constance  Sommerey and Darian Meacham.

Some of you might already know this episode as it was recorded with the DSMINDSETS Podcast in June of this year. Constance and Darian now started their own podcast called "Wokeasscience" within the Diversity and Inclusivity Office at UM.

Here you can find more information: https://www.maastrichtuniversity.nl/about-um/diversity-inclusivity/woke-science

Enjoy the episode and stay tuned for the next ones!

]]>74a33ca6-a0f2-4c58-8bff-e0ec8f522be8Thu, 02 Mar 2023 19:18:00 +020041:51falsefull111Constance Sommerey Darian Meacham