Join the Sense of Belonging (SOB) team for a roundtable discussion on ways to mitigate mental health issues often faced by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) graduate students at predominately white institutions. They will discuss how they used the tenets of Black Feminist Thought (BFT) to search for (and learn from) BIPOC graduate experiences in hopes of enhancing the campus climate for a Carnegie Research 1 Classification Doctoral University.    

The Sense of Belonging team will share their experiences of using the Healing Ethno and Racial Trauma (HEART) model—which promotes community healing through Heart2Heart micro-interventions (Chavez-Dueñas et al., 2019). Each micro-intervention they engage with connects to one of the tenets of BFT, allowing them to better understand how cultural spaces can help enhance the sense of belonging of BIPOC graduate students.  The Sense of Belonging team will offer administrators insight into how to engage with BFT through various Heart2Heart interventions they’ve employed (e.g., brunch workshops, writing retreats, restorative circles, etc.) They will explore questions for and from administrators most related to the needs of BIPOC graduate students. Their goal is to offer insight into how administrators can actively enhance their students’ mental/social, academic, emotional, and culture-affirming support while also helping them feel safe in their learning spaces and deserving of the academic opportunities presented to them at UT. 

This event is part of One Health + Humanities Days, a three-day series of events showcasing the Critical role that arts and humanities play in understanding and exploring sustainability and global wellbeing, including human, animal, plan, and environmental health. Events will take place October 25-27, 2023, on and around the UT Knoxville campus.