Nnedi Okorafor Virtual Book Club Community Guidelines
How to Be
The Barnard Digital Humanities Center is dedicated to providing collaborative experiences that are free from all forms of harassment, and inclusive of all people. Small actions you can take will help us meet this goal. For instance, we suggest:
- listening as much as you speak, and remembering that colleagues may have expertise and experiences you are unaware of;
- encouraging and yielding the floor to those whose viewpoints may be under-represented in a group;
- using welcoming language, for instance by using an individual’s stated pronouns and favoring gender-neutral collective nouns (“people,” not “guys”);
- giving credit where it is due;
- seeking concrete ways to make online spaces more universally accessible; and
- remembering everyone reads at their own pace, so please provide spoiler warnings if you’ve read ahead of the suggested chunk for that week;
- staying alert, as Active Bystanders, to the welfare of those around you.
Likewise, it is important to understand the range of behaviors that may constitute harassment.
Harassing behavior may relate to
- age;
- appearance or body size;
- employment or military status;
- ethnicity;
- gender identity or expression;
- individual lifestyles;
- marital status;
- national origin;
- physical or cognitive ability;
- political affiliation;
- sexual orientation;
- race; or
- religion.
Harassment can include unwelcome or offensive verbal or written comments or nonverbal expressions, used in person or online, in private or in public.
Examples of harassment can include:
- use of sexual and/or discriminatory images in public spaces (including online);
- deliberate intimidation;
- stalking;
- following;
- trolling;
- harassing photography or recording;
- sustained disruption of talks or other events;
- bullying behavior;
- inappropriate physical contact; and
- unwelcome sexual attention.
Sexual, discriminatory, or potentially triggering language and imagery is generally inappropriate for any Barnard venue. However, this policy is not intended to constrain responsible scholarly or professional discourse and debate. We welcome engagement with difficult topics, done with respect and care.
What to Do
We will not tolerate harassment of book club community members in any form. If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please let the Barnard DHC know by emailing us at digitalhumanities@barnard.edu.
Participants attending the Nnedi Okorafor Virtual Book Club who are asked to stop harassing or intimidating behaviors are expected to comply immediately. Those who violate our Code of Conduct may be warned or expelled at the discretion of the organizers.
We value your presence and constructive participation in our shared community, and thank you for your attention to the comfort, safety, and well-being of fellow collaborators and attendees.
The above community guidelines have been approved for re-use under CC BY-SA 4.0 License from The Digital Library Federation