#EDUUSUniversityOfSouthernCaliforniaUSC "Is the word 'fieldwork' racist? If it is up to the American Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, yes. The educational institution, part of the University of Southern California (USC), sent a letter to all employees last week announcing that practical assignments should no longer be referred to as 'going into the field' or 'doing fieldwork'. The term field could be associated with oppression, plantation labor and slavery. This conflicts with the inclusive values ​​of the school, so from now on the more neutral concept of practicum will be used. During my earth science studies, 'field work' was common jargon. Whether we were in the Pyrenees or on a Norwegian glacier, all the outdoor space was 'the field'. And now the word turns out to be potentially racist. Exaggerated, many people think - myself included. USC student newspaper the Daily Trojan reports that the ban is causing 'confusion' among students. Fieldwork proponents point to the etymology of the word: according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary , it was first used in 1686 for "a temporary fortification raised by the army in the field.' Canadian ecologist Jeremy Fox refers in his blog to eighteenth-century naturalists such as Georges Cuvier and Alexander von Humboldt, who referred to agricultural labor as 'fieldwork'." #NewspaperNLTabloidNRCHandelsbladGemmaVenhuizenhttps://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2023/01/18/spanningsveld-a4154513 #PhenomnLanguageEffectInclusive #PhenomnLanguageEffectHumanizing https://generocity.org/philly/2018/05/21/nonprofits-person-first-language-immediately-direct-service-homelessness-poverty-addiction-disability/ #PolicyDiversityEquityAndInclusionDEI