Imagining the Beloved Community

• In Event: Communal Possibilities: Critical Reflections in Three Breaths

Abstract

A team of four faculty met to design and facilitate a holistic healing series established upon the principles of love: love of self, community, and the environment. Each week, facilitators posed a definition with several discussion questions, and staff, faculty, and students in the department were invited into conversations about what each love type meant for individuals and the collective. Opening with contemplative grounding activities, recap and reflection, and then opening for discussion, participants were able to practice being vulnerable about their relationship to love in a brave space.

In this presentation, the speakers unpack the difficulties, successes, and continued learning opportunities that emerged from our praxis. Questions we consider include but are not limited to the following:

What were the logistics? Participants?
How did participants respond to the guiding principles? What were their take-aways?
What were the affordances of Zoom? How would this look different in person?
Could we replicate this series? If so, what would remain the same? Different?
What are the implications of this community both within and beyond the classroom?

Author

• Robert P. Robinson, CUNY - John Jay College of Criminal Justice