The 3rd annual ENGAGE! Community Day of Education is a day-long learning opportunity for all Hampshire community members. This year our focus is on rebuilding bridges, reconnecting with one another, and gaining skills to communicate across our differences. Our perspectives, backgrounds, experiences, positionality, privileges, and power differentials simply cannot be ignored as we move forward, particularly in times of great urgency.
Additionally, artist and activist Marty Pottenger will be in residence on campus the week of October 21-24 facilitating story circles, interviewing community members, and creating a workshop/performance that will be shared at ENGAGE! NEX(US): Hampshire Voices will bring together Hampshire College students, staff, administrators, faculty, alumni, and board of trustee members to share stories, listen to one another, make space for differences and find common ground. The week-long residency will include story circles, interviews, workshops and will culminate with a workshop performance at ENGAGE! Community Day of Education on Thursday, October 24, at 2 p.m.
This year, ENGAGE! will encourage participants to consider:
+ How can we communicate with one another from a place of celebration of difference rather than fear or distrust?
+ How can white supremacy culture be countered in daily practice at this institution?
+ How can the past be acknowledged while moving steadily into the future?
+ How can dialogic practices (such as deep listening, resonance, and empathy) help us to problem solve and think creatively?
+ What skills are necessary to engage in conversations about the future of the College in which all voices are respected and heard?
+ What skills are necessary to mediate different opinions and perspectives when setting goals and attempting to (re)build community?
+ How can story sharing provide opportunities to understanding and appreciating difference?
ENGAGE! was made possible by a generous donation and by support from the following offices and programs: Institutional Diversity and Inclusion; Ethics and the Common Good Program; Culture, Brain, and Development Program; The President’s Office; and Student Life.
