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Dismantling Bias - LLNE & SNELLA Fall 2020 Virtual Conference

About

Dismantling Implicit Bias

 

Summary

In this interactive training, participants will learn about how the implicit biases we all harbor affect our careers, professional relationships, and work with the communities we serve. Participants will gain a better understanding of how and why implicit bias exists and learn how to both identify their own implicit biases and have an increased awareness of those biases when making decisions.

Do You Have Implicit Bias?

The Harvard Implicit Association Test for race reveals racial bias by measuring the amount of time it takes an individual to make an association between two concepts displayed as either words or images. So, for example, a person with implicit bias against African Americans might take longer to associate the word “good” with a Black face than with a White face.

Please take the Implicit Association Test for Race before the session so that you will be prepared for our discussion.

Speakers

Karen DeMeolaKaren DeMeola, UConn School of Law, Assistant Dean for Finance, Administration, and Enrollment

Karen DeMeola is the Assistant Dean for Finance, Administration, and Enrollment at UConn School of Law and is a past president of the Connecticut Bar Association. She received her undergraduate degree in psychology from UConn and her J.D. from UConn Law. After graduation from law school, Karen was a civil rights litigator whose practice focused primarily on employment discrimination, police brutality, and housing discrimination. While at UConn Law, she has served as an adjunct professor teaching Critical Identity Theory and Diversity & Inclusion in the Legal Profession. Karen has presented on numerous panels, symposia, and conferences on diversity, inclusion and belonging, implicit bias, intersectionality, and inclusive leadership. She has created numerous pipeline projects, including the CBA Pathways to Legal Careers Pipeline. Karen is a Fellow of the Connecticut Bar Foundation. 

Karen has been recognized for her work by the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities, Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund, Connecticut Law Tribune, Connecticut Italian American Bar Association, Lawyers Collaborative for Diversity, and University of Connecticut School of Law Alumni Association.

Karen serves on the boards of the Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund, the Connecticut Legal Rights Project, and Family Equality (emeritus).

Tanya M. JohnsonTanya M. Johnson, UConn School of Law, Reference Librarian 

Tanya provides reference services, including research assistance and instruction, to all library patrons. She is also an adjunct professor, teaching Advanced Legal Research and Diversity & Inclusion in the Legal Profession. She earned her J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where she served as an editor on the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, and her M.L.I.S. from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey. Prior to her library work, Tanya practiced law at large and mid-size law firms, specializing in First Amendment law and complex litigation, and served as a Deputy Law Clerk for a Justice on the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.