Musical guest: Wyatt West (https://www.facebook.com/wyattwestmusic)
Community moment: TBA
Featured speaker: Niki Aktipis, “Intersectionality: Science and Its Historical Impact on Black Bodies”

Have you ever heard the name Henrietta Lacks? Do you know what happened in the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment? Were you ever taught about how gynecological practices were created? Why does any of this matter?

In this presentation we will discuss the implications of scientific discoveries and their impact on Black bodies. Many of the medical scientific breakthroughs that have saved countless lives have a dark history rooted in inequality and, in some areas, unequivocally inhumane. Within the U.S. education system, most of this history is completely absent from science curriculums or has been whitewashed at best. We will take time to review some of these stories and the cultural implications of hiding this history from ourselves.

About Niki:
Mx. Niki M Aktipis, MSc, MSE (They/Them/Theirs)

An Ohio native, Niki has been a Kansas City, Kansas, resident since late 2017. Prior to landing in the great city split between two states, Niki received their BSc in Biopsychology from The University of Michigan (2013) and their MSc in Conservation Biology from the University of Derby (2015). As a conservationist, their work has taken them all over the world and across the USA. Highlights include their work with leatherback sea turtles in Costa Rica and desert tortoise monitoring in the Mojave desert. In 2022, Niki completed their two-year commitment to Teach for America along with their MSE in Secondary Education from Fort Hays State University. They strongly believe that to be a scientist also means to be an educator. They are currently a proud life science teacher for Wyandotte High School. Niki calls Kansas home with their mini urban zoo.

Location: UMKC Royall Hall 111
800 E 52nd St., Kansas City, MO 64110
Free Sunday parking in the parking garage at 52nd and Rockhill Rd. (enter from 52nd & Charlotte).

*By participating in this event, you agree to abide by the Oasis Code of Conduct (http://www.kcoasis.org/about-oasis/code-of-conduct/).