Keynote Talk: Navigating “Topics to Avoid at the Dinner Table”

It seems that over the last decade discussing any socially divisive topic has become almost impossible to navigate. Anything that includes words such as “diversity,” “racism,” “transgender,” “White privilege,” seem to trigger an all-out culture war. In Ohio alone, we have dealt with legislation to limit our discussion of “divisive topics” in educational settings and the changing of a baseball mascot and team name that has almost divided the NE part of the state. This talk will explore the real-life interactions we have with friends, family, and coworkers about topics we’re generally supposed to avoid. Dr. Toni Bisconti, Associate Professor of Psychology at The University of Akron, will discuss research and practice on how and when to enter these conversations—and how and when to avoid them.

This free keynote talk is open to the public and is presented as part of the 2022 Annual Meeting of the Document Academy (DOCAM). If you would like to explore the full program and register for the full conference, please visit the DOCAM'22 website.

Dr. Bisconti received her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from The University of Notre Dame in 2001. Her research interests include topics such as ageism, minority stress, experiences of discrimination, and diversity-related education. She has been featured on public radio, as well as several news outlets, discussing hard to navigate topics, including racism, heterosexism, and hate and violence towards historically oppressed populations. Dr. Bisconti teaches courses on Developmental Psychology, Research Methods, Diversity, Hate, and Sexuality. Her work has appeared in leading journals such as the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Psychology and Aging, and the Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences.

The Document Academy (DOCAM) is a global collective that celebrates documentation and documents of all kinds. Through research, art and other discourse venues, the Document Academy explores issues and applications in documentation and documents across academia, the arts, business and society at large. Learn more at https://documentacademy.org/.

Visit our health and safety page for up-to-date information on the Cummings Center's safety protocols: https://uakron.edu/chp/museum/covid-19-precautions

Please stay home if you do not feel well, have been diagnosed with COVID-19, or had direct contact with an individual diagnosed with or suspected to have COVID-19.

A wheelchair accessible ramp is located on the northeast side of the building, near the main entrance. An interior elevator provides access to the classroom where the event is being hosted (3rd floor). A wheelchair is also kept on-site and is available for loan to those visiting the museum and archives.

For more information, see our accessibility page: https://uakron.edu/chp/about-us/accessibility.

For this event we will be in the classrooms on the 3rd floor of the Cummings Center for the History of Psychology. The street address is 73 S. College Street Akron, Ohio 44325-4302 (on the corner of Mill and College Streets).

A small parking lot is adjacent to the Cummings Center, on College St. There are also parking meters located along College St. or visitor parking available in Lot 30 (corner of College and Market streets).

UA staff, faculty, and student parking is available in Lot 40, off Mill St.

The Drs. Nicholas & Dorothy Cummings Center for the History of Psychology (CCHP) cares for, provides access to, and interprets the historical record of psychology and related human sciences. In addition to the Institute for Human Science and Culture (IHSC), the Center is the home to the Archives of the History of American Psychology (AHAP) and the National Museum of Psychology (NMP). Visit https://uakron.edu/chp/

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