Education team attends Yucatan i6 conference

October 10, 2023 - Patricia L. Stewart and Jade Richards

In September, IDI’s Director of Education and Development Program Patricia (Patti) Stewart, Ph.D., and Dialogues Coordinator Jade Richards attended the Technology and Innovation Congress, or Yucatan i6, in Mérida, Mexico.

The event is a conference for young people in and around the Yucatán sponsored by the Yucatan government – Secretaría de Investigación, Innovación y Educación Superior. The conference takes place to encourage the next generation of students to be inspired and interested in careers in technology and innovation.

This was the conference's second year, with nearly 15,000 people in attendance. Attendees chose topics to be discussed and explored at this event, which included aerospace, biotechnology, cybersecurity, entrepreneurship, artificial intelligence and the metaverse.

Sabrina Vieyra-Hollenbeck from the College of Osteopathic Medicine, Institute for Global Health, who is connected with the Yucatan education secretary, invited the pair to the conference. While they were there, Stewart and Richards had the opportunity to explore ways to set up an intercultural dialogue with students there and back at MSU.

“During our discussions, participants expressed concerns about promoting inclusivity and, much like members from our MSU community, one of the primary fears is inadvertently causing harm or making mistakes,” said Richards. “It was encouraging that we all shared a common aspiration for a more united and inclusive global community and to learn about the individual and collective efforts of students in the Yucatán.”