November 9, 2021

UW Community Circle kicks off a year of healing discussions with a virtual event

Several University of Washington programs kicked off a community circle on October 28, 2021, with a virtual event open to all UW faculty and staff. The purpose of the event was to invite attendees into an intentional space to participate in future conversations around processing and coping with the events of the past 20 months through the reading and discussion of My Grandmother’s Hands by Resmaa Menakem.

Menakem’s book aims to engage readers in building a healing community through somatic exercises provided, while learning new ways of being that work toward addressing embodied trauma.

“There’s a lot of work and responsibility on us as Higher Ed people to be leaders and to be holding this work for each other and for our students,” said Victoria Gardner, assistant dean of Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion at UW School of Public Health. “But we can’t do this for our students if we’re not doing it for ourselves.”

Any UW faculty or staff interested in participating in future meetings of the Circle are welcome, regardless whether they were able to attend the kickoff event. The next virtual meeting will be on November 30, 2021 at 4 p.m. Pacific and will cover Chapters 1 to 8 of My Grandmother’s Hands. Dates and times for meetings thereafter will be announced later, but the Community Circle plans to host virtual meetings once per quarter throughout the academic year. They will discuss chapters 9 to 16 during winter quarter and chapters 17 to 24 during spring quarter. The ebook is available via UW Libraries.

The goal is for members to read the assigned chapters individually and come to the Circle throughout the year to participate in a space committed to debriefing and healing in community through the concepts and exercises Menakem provides. Completing the reading and the work Menakem shares before attending meetings is encouraged in order to create the most meaningful, impactful space possible for participating members and ensure that community members are sharing in the labor of the work and healing taking place in this Circle.

The community circle is sponsored by the Population Health Initiative, the School of Public Health, the Race & Equity Initiative and the Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity.

Please contact Arti Shah via email at artishah@uw.edu if you are interested in joining the next UW Community Circle and were not able to attend the October 28 launch event.