The Racial Justice and Healing Collective, is a 15-week, facilitated journey for UW staff whose work supports students or staff development and success. Using The Racial Healing Handbook by Dr. Anneliese A. Singh as a guide, we will read, reflect, challenge, and engage ourselves and each other in caucus spaces across race and ethnicity.
"The work book, personal connections, and growth really have empowered me to feel more confident in my language use, my ability to say, 'I don't know, but let me think about it,' and to work with students from a lens of seeking to understand and be anti-racist."
Past Participant
This is an accordion element with a series of buttons that open and close related content panels.
What is the Racial Justice and Healing Collective?
The Racial Justice and Healing Collective (RJHC) is a 15-week, facilitated journey for UW-Madison staff and faculty interested in investing in their own learning, growth, and healing around anti-racism. Using The Racial Healing Handbook (which will be provided for all participants), by Dr. Anneliese A. Singh as a guide, we will read, reflect, challenge, and engage ourselves and each other in caucus spaces across race and ethnicity.
Through dialogue-based sessions, the group will be encouraged to support each other’s self-work and collective learning, to exchange ideas/resources that apply to the workplace and/or working with students, and to explore our personal journeys as they relate to navigating institutional racism and systems of oppression.
What will we do?
Using a primary lens of race, we will consider how all of our social identities, both privileged and marginalized, inform and impact our communication, behaviors, beliefs, and our relationships with colleagues and students. We will spend time reflecting on the history of racism and colonization in the U.S. and its continued impact on all of us.
What will it look like?
We will spend the majority of our time together engaged in race-based caucus groups. During the weeks that we don’t meet, participants will read and discuss the assigned chapter(s) with each other in pairs or small groups. Learn more about the use of caucusing in racial equity work
When will we meet?
We plan to hold our sessions in October and November in person, December through February virtually, and return to in-person sessions from March to May. As always, we will be prepared to pivot as needed in response to our community’s needs. All of our in-person sessions will include a catered meal, and we encourage participants to bring and eat their lunches during any virtual sessions.
The sessions will take place from 11:30am-1:30pm on the following Thursdays:
- Thursday, October 19 (in person)
- Thursday, November 2 (in person)
- Thursday, November 16 (in person)
- Thursday, November 30 (in person)
- Thursday, December 14 (virtual)
- Thursday, January 11 (virtual)
- Thursday, January 25 (virtual)
- Thursday, February 8 (virtual)
- Thursday, February 22 (in person)
- Thursday, March 7 (in person)
- Thursday, March 21 (in person)
- Thursday, April 4 (in person)
- Thursday, April 18 (in person)
- Thursday, May 2 (in person)
- Thursday, May 16 (in person)
This is intended to be a cumulative experience. With this in mind, we ask that participants make every effort to attend as many sessions as possible.
What did participants from the 2022-2023 cohort say?
“The “Racial Healing Handbook” provided grounding and space for individual learning and reflection outside of the large group discussion, but also a focal point for when we were all together.”
“The session topics were thoughtful and well organized…[the facilitators] provided guidance when needed, but also left room for the participants to speak and offered opportunities for everyone to join the conversation. Incredible group!”
“The variety of experiences we had (facilitated discussions, art therapy, grounding exercises, etc) are all things I wish could continue. The affinity and accountability that this type of year-long experience provides is exactly what I needed.”
“Through participating in this group, I have strategies to continue learning and growing in a more focused way.”
Interested in participating?
In an effort to ensure a fulfilling experience for all participants, space is limited.
Please check back for application details for 2024.
"While I came into this space feeling pretty confident in having academic conversations about equity and inclusion, this group forced me to look inward and be vulnerable in a way I hadn't before. In that way, I feel more prepared to model vulnerability in these conversations going forward."
Past Participant