The Developing Brains in Context Lab is part of the Department of Psychology at the University of Oregon located on unceded Kalapuya land. The University of Oregon is located on Kalapuya Ilihi, the traditional indigenous homeland of the Kalapuya people. Following treaties between 1851 and 1855, Kalapuya people were dispossessed of their indigenous homeland by the United States government and forcibly removed to the Coast Reservation in Western Oregon. Today, descendants are citizens of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Community of Oregon and the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians of Oregon, and continue to make important contributions in their communities, at UO, and across the land we now refer to as Oregon and throughout the world.

As a lab, we strive to actively combat the racism present in our communities. Systemic racism has prevented Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) from being represented in science, including in developmental psychology and cognitive neuroscience. All of humanity is at a disadvantage when science is not equally accessible. We have identified concrete steps we can take as a community to make science more inclusive of BIPOC scholars, which we detail below.

We also want to acknowledge the racist origins of the state of Oregon, which impacts our communities to this day. While we work toward making our own lab a welcoming and inclusive space for BIPOC scholars, we are embedded in larger social structures that are slower to change. That’s why as a lab we also work to combat racism in our broader communities, including the city of Eugene, and state of Oregon.

Projects

Addressing and preventing racist behaviors by children participating in research

The goal of this project is to create a more welcoming space for BIPOC scholars engaged in developmental research. We are developed a protocol and resources for developmental labs to use to help prevent, and better address, racist behaviors from children and families participating in laboratory studies. Please contact us for these resources.