Supporting Faculty Facing Occupational Intimidation
4 August 2026
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM PT / 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM ET / 9:00 PM - 10:00 PM CET
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Registration
- IOA Members: Free
Member registration includes access to the live webinar and the entire library of on-demand recordings.
- Non-Members: $250 USD per webinar
Non-member registration does not include access to the recording. Become a Member Today!
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About the Course
Attacks targeting experts have been increasingly visible and coordinated, posing a serious threat to faculty and university communities broadly. Drawing on insights from psychology, human-computer interaction, and data ethics, Searles will talk about her experience leading a diverse team of social scientists, clinicians, system engineers, and advocates in a multi-year research project to understand the needs of expert communities. She will also highlight how effective support systems mitigate harm, strengthen well-being, and improve scholarly success. This presentation translates the research into actionable steps for those seeking to support individuals targeted by occupational intimidation.
Learning Objectives
After participating in this webinar, participants will learn:
- Steps to take now to support faculty
- How to understand the problem
- Steps to pursue for long-term institutional support
Professional Development Hours
This course has been submitted for 1 PDH pending approval.
About the Instructor
 Kathleen Searles, Ph.D., is the Olin D. Johnston Chair of Political Science at the University of South Carolina. Her interests include news media, information communication technology, and political psychology. She co-authored a book published by Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press, respectively: the first investigates the effects of mobile devices on information processing, and the second examines the construction of expertise in the news. She has been awarded more than 7 million dollars in grant monies, including four National Science Foundation grants.
Much of that funding has supported her research on the effects of occupational intimidation on experts, which has culminated in the creation of Expert Voices Together, a trauma-informed rapid response system of care that will support journalists, academics, and other expert communities facing technology-facilitated harassment because of their work. A second major initiative informed by this work is the Researcher Support Consortium, which connects funders and institutions to resources that help them prepare for and support researchers who may experience occupational intimidation.
Her work has appeared in journals such as The Journal of Politics, Political Communication, Political Psychology, PLOS ONE, Perspectives on Politics, Public Opinion Quarterly, The Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, Political Research Quarterly, and Political Science Research Methods, among others. She is a founding member and executive emerita of Women Also Know Stuff, an organization designed to amplify the voice of women political scientists in public discourse and decrease the gender imbalance in media representation of experts. She is a co-convener of the Election Coverage and Democracy Network, which works with journalists to cover electoral politics.
Closed Captioning and Languages for Online Webinars & Meetings
IOA is dedicated to making meetings and content more accessible. All IOA Live Webinars will offer closed captioning. This service will also be available for IOA committee meetings upon request. Participation for all is encouraged; if you have any questions, please email the IOA office at [email protected].
This course is presented in English. Captions are available in English by default. Individual participants may choose to see their captions translated into one of the following languages: Arabic, Bangla (beta), Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Czech, Danish (beta), Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French (France), German, Hebrew (beta), Hindi (beta), Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Norwegian (beta), Polish, Portuguese, Romanian (beta), Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Tamil (beta), Turkish, Ukrainian, or Vietnamese.
IOA Online Learning & Virtual Event Policies
Webinar Cancellation Policy:
Notification of cancellation must be submitted in writing via email to [email protected]. All cancellation requests received 21 days in advance of the event start date will be issued a refund less a $10 USD processing fee. No refunds will be given thereafter except in the event of extenuating circumstances. Requests for registration cancellation must be submitted in writing via email to [email protected].
Substitute attendees will be permitted. Substitution requests must be in writing via email to [email protected] no later than two days before the event's start date. If you have any questions, please contact the office at [email protected].
Nonpayment Policy:
Full payment of registration fees is required 7 days before the start of a course. If payment is not made prior to the start of the course, event details will not be released to you, and your registration may be canceled. The IOA office will contact registered individuals with a balance due before canceling their registration. If you have any questions, please contact the office at [email protected] or by phone at +1-206-209-5275.
Subject to Change or Cancellation:
All IOA Courses are subject to change and/or cancellation.
IOA asks that all registered attendees confirm system requirements and test their computers prior to the start of each virtual session. If the Zoom or other platform used experiences a failure that is beyond our control, IOA may reschedule the session. If an attendee experiences a technical failure on their end, and the session is being recorded, attendees may watch the recorded session. If the session is not recorded, no refund will be issued.
Recording Acknowledgement:
Each virtual session may be recorded. These recordings may be provided for later viewing and may be used for promotional purposes, advertising, and other print and online materials at the sole discretion of IOA. By registering for a virtual session, you consent to be recorded by IOA when attending live sessions.
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