AMIA Spring 2021

Moderated by AMIA board members Juana Suárez and Andrea Leigh, this opening plenary will be a frank exchange between colleagues about the present state of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in our field, while visioning solutions to unroot the systemic inequities in our institutions in the near and not so distant future.  In 2016 AMIA hosted its first plenary on diversity, inclusion, and equity. The panelists challenged our membership to put DEI at the center of all aspects of our work as moving image archivists - from curation, to collection development, to hiring practices and beyond. In the five years since, much has been accomplished but more needs to be done to support the needs of groups that have been traditionally underrepresented in our field. So, in 2021 the work continues. We have learned that conversations about diversity are not always easy, but we ALL should share the responsibility to overcome our discomfort and engage in open and honest discussions if we’re going to affect meaningful, sustainable, and lasting change.