Code of Conduct for ASOR Annual Meeting & More

CODE OF CONDUCT FOR THE ASOR ANNUAL MEETING AND OTHER ASOR SPONSORED EVENTS

May 2020

I. Introduction

In 2015 the Board of Trustees for ASOR approved a Policy on Professional Conduct that laid out the basic principles ASOR members are expected to follow in their professional activities. Subsequently ASOR adopted the Code of Conduct for Fieldwork Projects. While these documents address most professional activities, they do not provide specific guidance for behavior at the ASOR Annual Meeting. While this silence may have been predicated on the assumption that the aforementioned policies should suffice, events at other professional conferences in 2018 and 2019, including the promulgation of codes of conduct for such events, suggested to the ASOR Board that the organization should follow these other professional organizations such as SCS, SAA, and the European Association of Archaeologists and adopt a policy on conduct at the ASOR Annual Meeting or other ASOR sponsored events.

 II. Statement on Harassment

The annual meeting and other ASOR sponsored events provide opportunities for ASOR members to engage in the active exchange of ideas both within and outside formal sessions and to interact and network with colleagues. This policy does not seek to limit the subjects of inquiry or in any way to constrain robust debate and dialogue. Participants in the annual meeting must feel free to explore the ideas that are raised in and out of the formal sessions. At the same time this activity should always occur within an atmosphere of mutual respect, recognizing the diversity of ASOR membership and of those who participate in the conference. Attendees, participants, speakers, volunteers, exhibitors and vendors (hereinafter attendees) at any ASOR-sponsored event, including online venues and official or unofficial social events occurring at ASOR-sponsored meetings, are entitled to expect an atmosphere that is free from any kind of disrespect and are expected to adhere to the provisions of this code irrespective of whether they are members of ASOR.

To that end, ASOR will not tolerate harassment in any form. The policies referenced above, as well as ASOR’s non-discrimination policy, emphasize the organization’s commitment to a professional environment in which the dignity of every individual is recognized and valued and individuals are not subjected to discrimination based on categories such as gender, which includes real or perceived gender identity, religion, age, race, disability, and sexual orientation and adds the other federally-protected categories of familial status (i.e., marital and parental situation, including pregnancy), color, and national origin.

This means that harassment, intimidation, and bullying of any kind have no place at the ASOR Annual Meeting. For purposes of this policy harassment includes, but is not limited to, sexual harassment such as unwelcome sexual advances, or other verbal or physical contact of a sexual nature. Harassment also pertains to activities/behaviors such as stalking, queer/trans bullying, or hostility or abuse based on age, disability, religion, race or ethnicity. Such conduct is harmful, disrespectful, and unprofessional. Attendees at the Annual Meeting shall not engage in harassment, bullying, or intimidation of other attendees whether in person or online or through other forms of media, such as unwanted photography/recording whether in or outside a session, or through sustained disruption of talks or other events, and their attendance at the meeting is an express acceptance of the obligation to follow the directives of this policy. Attendees should be mindful that they are bound by the codes of conduct at their own institutions and. as applicable, the provisions of Title IX, and that this policy reinforces those codes.

In the event that an ASOR attendee experiences or witnesses harassment, bullying, or intimidation at the meeting that is inconsistent with the values articulated in ASOR’s Policy on Professional Conduct, the attendee should contact ASOR’s Executive Director or other member of the Executive Committee or such other third party as the Executive Committee shall have identified and is encouraged to make a report in writing or electronically to them immediately or as soon as is practicable. The Executive Committee will delegate two members of that body to work together to investigate the reported behavior, to contact the person who has reported the behavior, and, if warranted, to contact the person about whom the complaint has been made. Pursuant to that determination the Executive Committee or its delegate(s) may take further and immediate action at the annual meeting, including notifying the individual that he/she is barred from attending any further events at the meeting without providing any refund of registration or membership fees, if complaints are made onsite and such a response is deemed necessary. The Executive Committee or its delegate(s) may, if circumstances warrant it, bar the individual from attending one or more subsequent meetings or revoke the individual’s membership in ASOR depending on the severity of the matter. The Executive Committee or its delegate(s) may also exclude from the Annual Meeting or other ASOR sponsored events any individual censured by his or her home institution for harassment of any kind as described above if the Executive Committee learns of such censure prior to the commencement of the Annual Meeting or other ASOR sponsored event. In order to facilitate the process for giving notice of harassment ASOR shall provide attendees with a flyer or other handout or badge identifying the members of the Executive Committee or such other persons as attendees should contact in the event of an incident of harassment. Placards with the text of this policy and contact information shall be posted in the venue of the Annual Meeting.