The Knott Lab fully supports and embraces a lab culture that recognizes and celebrates diversity in all of its forms, both seen and unseen. This includes age, color, disability, ethnicity, family or marital status, gender identity and expression, health, immigration status, language, national origin, physical and mental ability, political affiliation, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, socio-economic background, veteran status, and other characteristics or identities. We value each member and collaborator as a unique individual, shaped by these identities and life experiences, and believe that diversity makes us stronger and our science better. We are committed to creating an environment that is truly inclusive and equitable.

Our lab values a work environment built on the premise of diversity and equity that encourages and enforces:

  • A commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion
  • Respectful and open communication
  • Genuine cooperation and collaboration
  • Teamwork and participation by all members
  • The importance of every voice and room for those voices to be heard
  • The value of life outside of the lab

All members of our lab have a responsibility to treat others with dignity and respect at all times, including other lab members and others with whom we work. All members are expected to exhibit conduct that reflects respect and inclusion in the lab, at lab functions on or off-site, online, in the field, working at Boston University or internationally, and at all other lab events.

Teaching

Members of the Knott Lab are committed to fostering intellectual environments that embrace diversity and inclusivity. We believe it is a priority for us to be informed of Anthropology’s history of discrimination, as well as past and present efforts to overcome and address this discrimination. As a lab we aim to do our part to continually improve our field by promoting and supporting diverse voices and unbiased research within biological anthropology. While teaching, we aim to:

  • Teach research conducted by under-represented groups
  • Make our education accessible to all individuals
  • Assign readings from a diverse group of authors
  • Demonstrate examples of racism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination that have occurred in our discipline’s past
  • Highlight the efforts of those in our discipline who have addressed these issues, both currently and historically
  • Be respectful of all individual’s opinions and mindful that students’ may have lived experiences with topics being discussed in our courses, taking into consideration Boston University’s commitment to a safe learning environment for all
  • Encourage all our students to participate in class, recognizing the value of the diversity of backgrounds that each student brings to the table

Fieldwork:

We recognize that inclusion and equity must also exist beyond the classroom and lab spaces. Members of the Knott Lab commit to upholding these values in our work outside of Boston, in the US and internationally. We commit to:

  • Ensuring the safety of students, researchers and visitors including those who are LGBTQ+, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, and members of various religious groups throughout the duration of fieldwork
  • Including local communities in our fieldwork activities, fairly compensating them financially and acknowledging their contributions in our publications and presentations
  • Continuing long-term collaborations with local institutions, agencies and government bodies to properly credit their efforts and support underprivileged students

As a lab group, we commit to:

  • Being respectful of all individual’s opinions
  • Not making assumptions about others and being mindful that we are likely not aware of everyone’s individual identities or lived experiences
  • Participating in and leading discussions about anti-racism and other forms of discrimination as a lab, as part of the university, and as part of the broader academic community
  • Performing annual evaluations of lab and field safety guidelines to reflect best practices to make research safe, equitable, and inclusive for researchers of different identities
  • Broaden recruiting practices to target students and researchers of different identities (see Chaudhary and Berhe, 2020 for further information)