Ready to make meaningful connections, enhance your skills, and explore new perspectives this fall? The #NCLUDE Learning Groups are back with a 13 opportunities designed to help build community and foster a greater sense of belonging.
These small, facilitated groups provide a supportive space to dive into topics that matter. Whether you're looking to build community, navigate institutional challenges, or simply connect with colleagues over shared interests, there's a group for you. Learn more and register online.
The groups are organized into three categories to help find one that fits your interests:
Elevating Knowledge and Awareness
These groups are designed to broaden your understanding of perspectives and shared experiences that shape our community, fostering a greater sense of mutual respect and belonging.
- Movie Moments, Real Life Impacts: Connecting Film to Policy: Explore how film can be a lens for understanding and discussing real-world policies and their impact, building a shared vocabulary and empathy that strengthens community bonds.
- The Person You Mean to Be: Dive into a book discussion that challenges you to be more intentional about who you are and how you show up in the world, contributing positively to the communities you're a part of.
- Academic Freedom in a Changing World: This group explores and discusses the complexities of academic freedom in today's evolving educational landscape, preserving an academic community that values open inquiry and respectful dialogue.
- The Light We Carry: Join a conversation based on Michelle Obama's book about navigating life's challenges and finding strength in community, reinforcing the power of shared human experience.
- Creating Connections Through the Stories of Our Senses: Engage your senses to explore storytelling as a way to connect with others and build a deeper understanding of shared experiences, ultimately strengthening our community.
Enhancing Skills for Community Building
These groups focus on building the skills needed to create environments of belonging and mutual respect within our community.
- Strengthening Connection to Combat Loneliness: Learn practical strategies for building and maintaining strong relationships to combat feelings of isolation and form a more connected community.
- Intentional Work: Building Purpose, Boundaries, and Belonging in Our Day-to-Day: Discover how to bring more purpose and balance to your professional life while fostering a greater sense of belonging within your work environment.
- Leader Shift: This group is for individuals who want to explore new ways of leading to better support their teams and promote a positive work environment where everyone feels they belong.
- The Caring University: Reimagining the Higher Ed Workplace: This group will explore ways to cultivate a more compassionate and supportive workplace culture, creating a community where everyone feels cared for and valued.
- Bridging the Divide: Practice skills for having difficult conversations and finding common ground with those who hold different perspectives, thereby building a more cohesive and respectful community.
Developing Support Networks and Navigating Structures
These groups offer support and skills for navigating institutional structures and potential barriers to community and belonging, helping you find your place and feel supported.
- Knitting for Mindfulness: Connect with others while learning a new skill. This group provides a calming, creative outlet and a space for quiet reflection, offering a relaxed environment to build community.
- Worthy: Unleashing the Struggles Around Self-Worthiness: Explore the challenges of self-worth and build a supportive network with others facing similar struggles, fostering a sense of belonging and acceptance.
- Mindful Living Through Yoga: Patanjali and the Gita Reimagined: Find balance and build a supportive community through the practice of yoga and a discussion of its core philosophical texts, connecting with others on a journey of well-being.
