122 elements and counting.
Intent
The Periodic Table of (Human) Elements is intended to encourage conversations around identity (race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity/nationality, age, class, ability, religious beliefs, and academic status) in a manner that allows all of us to see ourselves as diverse - as opposed to “dominant”, “normal”, or “default” vs. “the other.” It reminds us that diversity is a part of any successful system. It reminds us that we all belong.
On Race
There is only one racial identity: human. Where we see differences of skin color or facial features – these are the result of ethnic origins, which have been misused as a means of de-humanizing people with a certain appearance in order to justify oppression, marginalization, exclusion, and violence. This misuse of racial identity to dehumanize certain groups is racism.
History
The Periodic Table of Human Elements is something I came up with in the Spring of 2008 while copywriting text for a brochure re-write for the Learning Communities Programs run by the UW-Madison Office for Equity & Diversity. The Learning Communities subsequently came under the umbrella of the Division of Diversity, Equity and Educational Achievement (DDEEA), which like many diversity related academic units in our current political climate has been watered down to make diversity work and the history and experiences of marginalized identities less visible.
The Table was updated a bit in 2015, and then I created the current site with the ability for end-users to suggest new elements in 2026.
You can view the original table (as a graphic) here
Usage
It is my strong belief that The PToHE is a concept that belongs to everyone, and whose strength in helping to bring social change is dependent upon its widespread use. Therefore, I'm releasing the Table under Creative Commons license (Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International).
Get Involved
This table is incomplete. This current version add the ability for people to suggest element tiles where I have left gaps. I was able to do this with a little help from Claude (you can read more about my thoughts on “A.I.” use on my Montyland Productions site). If you have coding skills and would like to contribute to the look, feel, or usability of this project, send an email to me.
