The Humanities Intensive Learning + Teaching (HILT) Institute is dedicated to providing a harassment-free experience for everyone regardless of gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, origin, or religion. By attending HILT events, you signal your commitment to contributing to a safe and inclusive experience for all. We do not tolerate harassment of event participants in any form. Sexual or discriminatory language and imagery is not appropriate for any event venue, including talks. Participants in HILT courses or any other HILT event, including social events, violating these rules may be expelled at the discretion of the organizers. This document also pertain to HILT housing, social media, and the HILT Slack.

Harassment includes but is not limited to: derogatory verbal comments; sexist, racist, or otherwise discriminatory jokes and language; sexual and/or discriminatory images in public spaces; deliberate intimidation; stalking; following; harassing photography or recording; questioning someone’s right to use the restroom of their choice; sustained disruption of talks or other events; inappropriate physical contact; and unwelcome sexual attention.

This policy is not intended to constrain responsible scholarly or professional discourse and debate. We welcome engagement with difficult topics, practiced with respect and care.

We recognize that codes of conduct such as these often function to accuse women, scholars of color, and LGBTQ+ individuals–of “threatening” or “intimidating” behavior in public spaces. HILT values the contributions and participation of all of attendees. The weaponization of this code to deride, silence, and police people will too be considered a violation of this policy.

Participants asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately. If a participant engages in harassing behavior, the organizers may take any action they deem appropriate, including warning the offender or expulsion from HILT.

Reporting Guidelines

If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, we ask that you contact Jennifer Guiliano or Trevor Muñoz immediately. They can be identified by their name badges and can always be reached by email at dhtraining01@gmail.com or via the HILT Slack. Incidents related to social media may or may not have been communicated to the organizers. As such, we request you complete a formal report if there is an issue of concern.

If you are in imminent physical danger, please notify appropriate law enforcement first. Please be aware that law enforcement involvement may increase the danger to some members of our community. Additionally, we are unable to intervene with law enforcement once a complaint has been filed. If you are unsure what law enforcement agency is appropriate, please include this in your report and we will notify them.

All reports will be kept confidential except where IUPUI policies regarding harassment and reporting supersede. In some cases we may determine that a public statement from HILT will need to be made. If that’s the case, the identities of all victims and reporters will remain confidential unless those individuals instruct us otherwise.

In your report please include:

  • Your contact info (so we can get in touch with you if we need to follow up)
  • Names (real, nicknames, or pseudonyms) of any individuals involved. If there were other witnesses besides you, please try to include them as well.
  • When and where the incident occurred. Please be as specific as possible.
  • Your account of what occurred.
  • Any extra context you believe existed for the incident.
  • If you believe this incident is ongoing.
  • Any other information you believe we should have.

What happens after you file a report?

  • You will receive a message from Jennifer or Trevor acknowledging receipt. The HILT organizers will immediately meet to review the incident and determine:
  • What happened.
  • Whether this event constitutes a code of conduct violation.
  • Who the bad actor was.
  • Whether this is an ongoing situation, or if there is a threat to anyone’s physical safety.

If this is determined to be an ongoing incident or a threat to physical safety, the organizers’ immediate priority will be to protect everyone involved. This means we may delay an “official” response until we believe that the situation has ended and that everyone is physically safe.

Once the organizers have a complete account of the events they will make a decision as to how to respond. Responses may include:

  • Nothing (if we determine no violation occurred).
  • A private reprimand from the working group to the individual(s) involved.
  • A public reprimand.
  • A permanent or temporary ban from some or all HILT events
  • A request for a public or private apology.

We’ll share with the person who filed the report either a resolution or an explanation of why the situation was not resolved within 24 hours.

Once we’ve determined our final action, we’ll contact the original reporter to let them know what action (if any) we’ll be taking. We’ll take into account feedback from the reporter on the appropriateness of our response, but we don’t guarantee we’ll act on it.

We value your attendance.

Signed,

Trevor Muñoz and Jennifer Guiliano

Co-Directors, HILT

 

This statement of values was inspired by and incorporates ideas from similar statements and codes of conduct created by The Digital Library Federation, the Django Software Foundation, and the African American History, Culture, and Digital Humanities (AADHum) Initiative at the University of Maryland.