YCSC Community-Building with Yasmeen Davis: Individual & Collective Values

In the first of a 3-part series of hybrid workshop sessions Us United Restorative Practices Consultant Yasmeen Davis and YCSC Vice Chair for DEI Tara Davila, YCSC community members will participate in a variety of culture-building workshops and reflection sessions to explicitly define community.

Each part will be offered over three consecutive days, one in October 2024, another in December 2024, and a third in January 2025. The time investment for each is 4 hours over days one and two. Participants may also choose to receive additional support in bringing this work to their teams through optional sessions on day three, which will be 45 minutes each.

On October 30 and 31, the focus will be on individual and collective values, held in the Cohen Auditorium. In response to initial feedback and to make the sessions more accessible, most sessions will be hybrid (in person and available on Zoom).

These sessions were designed to help identify shared values and norms to strengthen and restore a sense of community, for individual teams or programs and at the departmental level. On November 1, optional virtual sessions will be offered for more in-depth teamwork and discussion. RSVPs are requested for all sessions.

During the sessions, participants will engage in critical self-reflection to identify individual values, community values, shared definitions, norms, and agreements. These are essential elements for building and maintaining culture in a community. Through investing in the community in this manner, participants will engage in critical community reflection to determine who we are, how we operate, how we be, and how we show up when we gather.

Agenda

Day 1: October 30

9:00-9:30 Breakfast Reception (in-person; optional)

9:30-11:00 Workshop: Identifying & Defining Personal Values (hybrid)

Choose one of the following sessions to dive more deeply into the topic:

• 11:30-12:30 (hybrid)
• 12:45-1:45 (hybrid)
• 2:00-3:00 (hybrid)
• 3:00-4:00 (virtual)

Day 2: October 31

9:00-9:30 Breakfast Reception (in-person; optional)

9:30-10:00 Workshop: Identifying & Defining Community Values (hybrid)

Choose one of the following sessions to dive more deeply into the topic:

• 10:15-11:15 (hybrid)
• 11:30-12:30 (hybrid)
• 1:00-2:00 (hybrid)
• 2:30-3:30 (virtual)

Day 3: November 1

Optional 45-minute virtual sessions to support reflection and planning to bring these activities to individual teams; offerings are as follows.

• 9:00-9:45
• 10:00-10:45
• 11:00-11:45
• 12:00-12:45
• 1:00-1:45
• 2:00-2:45
• 3:00-3:45

The goal of these sessions is to honor and acknowledge all voices in the department to form, shape, and strengthen community – in individual teams, labs, programs, etc. as well as department-wide. All in the YCSC community are welcome, and teams are encouraged to participate with all members or one or more representatives able to attend.