Within focuses on the internal work that each of us needs to do as we engage in deeper personal understanding, explore questions of race and racism, extract our souls and spirits from white supremacy culture, and work for racial justice. This work is different for white folks and for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC+) and is done entirely in different courses: Gathering Our Selves for BIPOC+ and Un/Learning for Liberation for white people.
The Within program includes individual Lessons, which utilize videos, music, and readings, accompanied by personal reflection prompts and suggested conversations with a Critical Friend chosen by the participant; bi-weekly small group conversations in a Learning Pod; and larger, monthly, facilitated Meaning Making Sessions on Zoom.
There are two separate terms of the Within program—Fall and Spring—which contain different content. Participants can sign up for one or both and may begin in Spring or Fall.
The spiritual work of Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and other people marginalized by systems of white supremacy culture* (BIPOC+) has been a neglected conversation, as much anti-racism work is focused on the learning needs of white folks. Recognizing the vast differences in our spiritual and learning needs, we are glad to offer both Fall and Spring Terms of the Within program in completely separate courses for BIPOC+ and white folks.
*We recognize that the imperfect and complex ways we talk about our racial identities are one way that “racism” can continue to cause spiritual harm. Our program hopes to be a mediating space of guidance, support, and reconciliation for those who experience the violence and everyday sting of racism in their lives. In this program, we currently use the term BIPOC+ (Black, Indigenous, People of Color, and other racially targeted people), referring to and inclusive of those who have experienced social and structural race-based oppression: African Americans/Black people, Caribbean people, Asian/Pacific Islanders, Middle Easterners, Latin American/Latinx people, Indigenous peoples across the Americas, and mixed-race people.
For those of us who identify as Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC+), we recognize the need to understand the impact of racism in our lives—particularly our spiritual lives—and the choices we have made to survive and thrive.
In Gathering Our Selves, we will look at issues such as how and why Unitarian Universalist values matter to us, how race has shaped our personal and communal lives, the dynamics of why and how we stay in the faith, and what a theology for BIPOC+ in a white-dominated society might look like. This is VERY exciting work—conversations some of us on the Beloved Conversations Design Team have been waiting FOREVER to have!
Gathering Our Selves will run in two cohorts—one for those who are new to the program and one for people who have completed one Term of the program. The two cohorts will have opportunities to come together for worship and connection.
Whether you are just waking up to systemic racial injustice or your heart has been breaking for a long time, white folks on the journey toward collective liberation are invited to join us for Un/Learning for Liberation. We will explore within ourselves as individual white people, within our family and community systems, and within the system of whiteness, and examine that which has impacted and limited our ability to truly be present with and connected to ourselves and our siblings of color. We get to choose to be and do differently, beginning within ourselves. This program is not a place to memorize definitions and rules to follow; instead, it is a space for justice-making and spiritual formation, and therefore a place where we honor complexity, nuance, and grace. We will bear witness to one another as we engage a process of introspection, honest reflection, and challenge what we always thought we knew or were too afraid or embarrassed to ask. We will learn together about how this racialized and racist system has impacted us and dis-connected us from ourselves and our BIPOC+ kin and how it was implanted in us without our consent. And we will unlearn some of our deeply ingrained habits of perception, thought, and behavior, while practicing spiritual skills for humility, resistance, and solidarity.
Un/Learning for Liberation runs in one cohort, regardless of folks’ previous participation in the program. Content is different in Spring and the Fall Terms.
Within is broken up into two 12-week terms each year, Fall and Spring, which each contain different content. You may begin either in Fall or in Spring.
Each term is comprised of:
Given the need for healthy boundaries and the additional challenges of leading anti-racism work in congregations and communities, religious professionals will be sorted into and gather in religious professional-only Learning Pods within their course.
PLEASE NOTE: This is a virtual learning opportunity. Basic skills with email, simple websites, and the online meeting platform Zoom are essential to successful participation in this course.
Prices are per term—Fall Term and Spring Term have different content. You may complete one or both, but registration is only open for one at a time.
Sliding Scale Pricing (ages 18+)
Full and partial scholarships are available for those who need them (see more info below).
*Reparations Note: White participants with the means to do so are encouraged to consider paying an additional $50, in recognition of the historic legacy of racist economic policies and the ways in which generational wealth and greater access to economic opportunity have privileged white people as a group for hundreds of years. These extra funds will go towards supporting the program and providing scholarships to those who need them.
**Interdependence Note: Regardless of your racial identity, if your class privilege and/or professional expense budget allows you to pay more so that others may pay less, please consider adding an additional contribution to your total. These extra funds will go towards supporting the program and providing scholarships to those who need them.
Equity Note: Full and partial scholarships are available to those who need them. Please contact us at belovedconversations@meadville.edu before registering to request a scholarship.
If you are interested in paying for a group of people together, please email us at belovedconversations@meadville.edu for more information on how to do so.
We will be glad to issue a full refund, for any reason, within 30 days of the payment date. After 30 days, we cannot issue any refunds.
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If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact us at belovedconversations@meadville.edu
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