Creating Critical Community through Conversation

Throughout the semester, as community engagement associates, we have focused on creating community on campus with the American Indian Studies Program office. We have facilitated this through the practice of radical hospitality by creating a welcoming environment on campus. Our aim was to have a space where everyone feels welcome to stop by, sit, enjoy coffee or tea, have conversation, and feel comfort through the aroma of incense. We have created a salon-like environment where students are free to talk about pressing issues surrounding equity, identity, academic, career, and personal matters. In doing so, we fostered a welcoming space on campus for students, including marginalized and indigenous students.