Professor Keon West
Professor Keon West -Professor of Social Psychology & Keynote Speaker
Keon West is a Professor of Social Psychology and a keynote speaker and an expert on identity, prejudice, and representation. He has published over 60 empirical papers which have been cited over 1800 times in the wider scientific literature.
His research, teaching, media engagement, and social activism have earned him numerous international awards. He has also presented programmes on nakedness and racism for BBC World Service, BBC Radio 4 and Channel 4 TV as well as appearing as a contributor for newspapers, on radio and on television (including BBC Radio 4, BBC World Service, Channel 4, and the Discovery Channel) discussing his research and area of expertise.
A truly international academic, he was born in Trinidad, grew up in Jamaica, and studied in the USA and France. He finally came to the UK as a Rhodes Scholar in 2006 to do his doctorate in Social Psychology at Oxford University.
Keon is the co – author of the original audiobook Skewed – How Bias Distorts Our View of Other People and How to Make It Stop and his new book The Science of Racism – Everything you Need to Know But Probably Don’t Know – Yet is published in the UK and US early next year.
SPEAKING TOPICS
Unconscious Bias and Unconscious Bias Training: The Facts
Billions of pounds are spent every year on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives to tackle unconscious bias. However, a steadily growing backlash against these efforts claims that unconscious bias training is a waste of time and that “DEI must die”. In the rising clamour of polarised opinion it is more important than ever to know the simple scientific facts. Are unconscious biases real? Can they be reliably measured? Do they matter for real-world behaviour? Does unconscious bias training affect them? And, if not, what are the techniques that actually work? In his talk, Professor Keon West, author of the Science of Racism and winner of multiple international awards for his prejudice-related research, provides the answers to these difficult questions in a way that is both easily approachable and scientifically rigorous. You will leave the talk with clarity, confidence and the ability to soundly defend your decisions around unconscious bias and unconscious bias training.
Talk about Racism with Confidence
Are you or your team scared to talk about racism? Do you worry about saying the wrong thing, or getting your facts mixed up? Social psychologist Professor Keon West (PhD; Oxford University, author of The Science of Racism) explains even the most nuanced aspects of racism in a way that is clear, approachable, backed by the most rigorous science, and surprisingly entertaining. It will leave your team more confident speaking about racism and elevate your conversations about bias in general.
Solutions to bias: science vs. myths
Unconscious bias training? DEI initiatives? Checking your privilege? In a world of fast moving fads it’s hard to separate the real solutions from the trendy falsehoods. Social psychologist Professor Keon West (PhD; Oxford University, author of The Science of Racism) offers you the hard facts about reducing bias in a way that is clear, approachable, backed by the most rigorous science, and surprisingly entertaining. It will move you from confusion to purposeful, confident, bias-reducing action.
Representation: from trepidation to inspiration
Do you want to inspire your ethnic minority team / students / volunteers to new heights of confidence and self-actualisation? Professor Keon West (PhD; Oxford University, author of The Science of Racism) highlights the importance and power of positive role-modeling, historical accuracy, and scientific fact with a talk that doesn’t shy away from the reality of a racialised world, but offers listeners crucial, inspiration, evidence-based methods of succeeding in it.
