2017 Community Day of Learning Looks at "Mind and Body: Belonging in our Communities"
The below message was sent via email by Secretary of the College Ruth Lindeborg on Tuesday, Nov. 15.
Dear Bryn Mawr Community Members:
Thank you to all who participated in the survey for the third Community Day of Learning (CDL) that will be held on March 22, 2017. After spending some time discussing the results, in which several themes received support, and the desire to explore the intersections that shape individual identities and our community, the CDL Committee identified the theme "Mind and Body: Belonging in our Communities" as a framework to open up varied discussions of perceptions and experiences of belonging and not belonging, stigma and inclusion, and how belonging can be built in a community.
We anticipate that the sessions at this year’s CDL will be wide-ranging, and include sessions that consider histories, social policies, cultural norms, and personal experiences. Topics might include, for example: Embodying Struggle: Non-Violent Protest, Mental Health Impacts of Racism, Perceptions and Realities of Disabilities, Stories of Stress, Inclusive Teaching, Talking Across Differences, Managing Aging, Implicit Bias, Body Image and Body Realities, etc. By focusing on our minds and bodies – how they function, how they interact, and how they are perceived—we hope to dive deep and spread wide into the issues that shape our sense of self, the impact of community on our identities and of ourselves on this and other communities, and our opportunity to expand what it means to belong at Bryn Mawr.
We invite anyone interested in organizing a session to begin thinking about ideas and possible participants in leading a session. The Planning Committee will be in touch immediately after winter break with a call for proposals. We will also be reaching out to student groups to encourage input and participation. We close by sharing this word cloud that captures the one-word responses of what community members hope for as outcomes for this year’s CDL.
The Community Day of Learning Planning Committee: Nell Anderson, Linda-Susan Beard, Palak Bhandari, Samantha Bond, Christine Boyland, Dani Cadet, Leslie Cheng, Vanessa Christman, Sydney Coppola, Manar Darwish, Ellie Esmond, Jesse Gale, Erica Graham, Tianyi He, Chuck Heyduk, Ruth Lindeborg, Stephanie Montalvan, Jancy Munguia, Stephanie Nixon, Liz Roan, Rebecca Salas, Jenille Scott, Julia Shaon, Christian Stella, Sarah Theobald, Michael Tratner, Jennifer Walters, Vippy Yee, Lisa Zernicke.