Incorporating DEI in Content Reviews
A Coffee Break Webinar: Presenting useful information in just 30 minutes.
Increasingly, publishers are adding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) reviews of their frontlist and backlist titles. These reviews can help editors identify and resolve issues before publication of frontlist titles. With some controversy, backlist reviews can address content issues that were not evident at the time of publication.
Publishers taking on this kind of work for the first time look for direction on basic questions: When should a review be scheduled? How much time should it take? Are there best practices for who should be involved in a review? To what extent are these reviews best done outside the normal editorial process?And, how do we get started?
To answer these questions, BISG and Westchester Education Services, which provides support in this area, have brought together two industry professionals with varied experiences reviewing the content of frontlist and backlist titles for an illuminating conversation.
- Jada Bradley (Senior Editor, Culturally Responsive Education, Westchester Education Services) has over twenty years of trade and educational publishing experience, both on staff and as a freelancer. She has also studied translation and taught English language learners. Her passions include children’s literature, language acquisition, and amplifying the voices of underserved communities. She is concerned with creating culturally relevant educational projects that connect with students and offer opportunities for differentiation.
- Melissa Patrick, MSW (Director, Director of Content, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Pearson Higher Ed) is a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) practitioner who works with organizations that strive for workplaces and learning spaces that are psychologically safe, equitable, and improve individual and organizational performance. She joined Pearson Publishing in August 2021. At Pearson, Melissa directs the DE&I Content QA & Services team in Higher Ed, where she oversees its DE&I Content Review Program. In addition, she consults, trains, and advises business units throughout the division on DE&I Content related matters, from sales and marketing to product and content strategy.
Learn from their experiences as they share best practices of what works when incorporating DEI in content reviews. Join us to hear Jada and Melissa in conversation in this free and interactive webinar. Your questions and participation are welcome.
Resources recommended by our speakers
Books:
- The Inclusive Language Field Guide by Suzanne Wertheim, PhD
- Editing for Sensitivity, Diversity and Inclusion: A Guide for Professional Editors by Renee Otmar, PhD, DE, JMM, HLM
- Elements of Indigenous Style: A guide for Writing by and about Indigenous Peoples by Gregory Younging
Websites:
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