College of Arts & Sciences
I Belong: USF Week
Join the celebration from September 20 to September 29!
"I Belong: USF Week" is a celebration that aims to educate students about resources on campus, engage in community building, and cultivate a sense of belonging among students, faculty and staff from all backgrounds. It's a grass-roots effort organized by members of the College of Arts and Sciences. The first 'I Belong: USF Week' was held last spring and was a week-long initiative across all three campuses. This semester, we've expanded the initiative to a week and half. We'll be adding more events as dates and times are confirmed, so please refer to this event webpage for more updates.
Featured Seminar Speaker: Dr. Joseph L. Graves, Jr. on September 28!
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Dr. Joseph L. Graves, Jr., Mackenzie Scott Endowed Professor of Biology, Department of Biology, North Carolina A&T State University
Dr. Joseph Graves, Jr. received his Ph.D. in Environmental, Evolutionary and Systematic
Biology from Wayne State University in 1988. In 1994 he was elected a Fellow of the
Council of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS.) In 2012,
he was chosen as one of the “Sensational Sixty” commemorating 60 years of the NSF
Graduate Research Fellowship Award. In 2017, he was listed as an “Outstanding Graduates”
in Biology at Oberlin College; and was an “Innovator of the Year” in US Black Engineer
Magazine.
His research in the evolutionary genomics of adaptation shapes our understanding of
biological aging and bacterial responses to nanomaterials. He is co-PI for the NSF
funded Precision Microbiome Engineering (PreMiEr) Gen-4 ERC; Director/PI for the Amgen
Biotech Experience NC; and Director/co-PI for the NIH funded Genomic Research and
Cloud Computing (GRADS-4C).
His books are: The Emperor's New Clothes: Biological Theories of Race at the Millennium,
Rutgers University Press, 2005; The Race Myth: Why We Pretend Race Exists in America,
Dutton Press, 2005; Principles and Applications of Antimicrobial Nanomaterials, (Amsterdam
NE: Elsevier), 2021; with Alan Goodman, Racism, Not Race: Answers to Frequently Asked
Questions, Columbia University Press, 2022; A Voice in the Wilderness: A Pioneering
Biologist Explains How Evolution Can Help Us Solve Our Biggest Problems, (New York:
Basic Books), 2022.
He leads programs addressing underrepresentation of minorities in science and has
also served on the Racial Reconciliation and Justice Commission, and COVID Vaccination
Task Force of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina. He also serves as the science
advisor to the Chicago, New Brunswick, and Methodist of Ohio Theological Seminaries
through the AAAS Dialogues of Science, Ethics, and Religion (DoSER) program.
Activities Planned for the week-plus-long event!
Wednesday, September 20
Latin Food Fair
Sponsored by the Campus Activities Board (Sarasota-Manatee Campus)
11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
Main Rotunda—USFSM
Thursday, September 21
What's the Tea
USF St. Petersburg campus
4:00-5:00 p.m.
Please RSVP using BullsConnect.
Monday, September 25
Education Abroad Fair Week Centre Gallery Opening Reception: Threads of Belonging
6:00-7:00 p.m.
Marshall Student Center - Centre Gallery
Hosted by USF World
Tuesday, September 26
Consent and Conversations Workshop
Content Warning: This workshop explores sexual consent and may include discussion of sexual violence.
2:00-3:00 p.m.
Marshall Student Center – Room 3709
Hosted by The USF Center for Victim Advocacy and Violence Prevention
Humanities and Hops
"Diversity and the Human Experience" with USF Professors Alexander Levine, Lorena Madrigal, Adriana Novoa, and Christina Richards
7:00 p.m.
New World Brewery
810 East Skagway Avenue
Tampa, FL 33604
Hosted by the USF Humanities Institute
Wednesday, September 27
Meet and Greet on the Tampa Campus
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Marshall Student Center – South Entrance
Join us to meet with CAS faculty and student organizations at the USF Bull Market
Know The Code: Being Responsi-BULL Workshop
3:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Teams Meeting: usf.to/knowthecode
Hosted by The Office of Student Conduct and Ethical Behavior
Thursday, September 28
“A Voice in the Wilderness: A Pioneering Biologist Explains How Evolution Can Help Us Solve our Biggest Problems”
11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Teams Meeting: usf.to/IBseminar
In Person: CAS Multidisciplinary Complex (CMC)
Address: 12010 USF Cherry Dr, Tampa, FL 33620
This is a virtual event available to all USF faculty, staff and students to discuss
Professor Joseph Graves' book.
Hosted by the Department of Integrative Biology
"Racism, Not Race: Answers to Critically Asked Questions"
Time: 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Teams Meeting: usf.to/IBseminar
In Person: CAS Multidisciplinary Complex (CMC)
Address: 12010 USF Cherry Dr, Tampa, FL 33620
Join us for our Integrative Biology lecture featuring evolutionary biologist, Professor
Joseph Graves. Graves is a renowned scientist whose research in the evolutionary genomics
of adaption shapes our understanding of biological aging and bacterial responses to
nanomaterials.
Evolutionary science has long been thought of as a tool used to enforce oppressive
ideas, particularly about race and gender. In his lecture, “Racism, Not Race: Answers
to Critically Asked Questions,” Graves explains how evolutionary biology can answer
important social questions about racism.
Hosted by the Department of Integrative Biology
Virtual Meet and Greet with students and Sigma Xi members
2:00-3:00 p.m.
Teams Meeting: usf.to/IBseminar
In Person: CAS Multidisciplinary Complex (CMC)
Address: 12010 USF Cherry Dr, Tampa, FL 33620
Hosted by the Department of Integrative Biology
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Share your experiences on social media using the hashtag #IBelongatUSF