[Tang-Residents] Safe to be unsafe

[Dawn Anderson]

Greetings Tang:


MIT is filled with individuals from various backgrounds who hold different beliefs, values and traditions.  All of it merges in classrooms, labs, various meetings, and residence halls where if lucky, discussions will encourage inclusivity providing a more holistic approach to whatever outlook being formed or assignments and/or goals being set.  But power dynamics prevent this more than it should at institutions of higher learning, silencing those who need to be heard the most.  We are challenged, as academics, to create spaces for hard conversations so I am asking you to share your experience and observations in spaces where you felt it was safe to be unsafe (for example - expressing opposing views, addressing taboo subjects, giving voice to the those not in the room, etc...).


This week the Express Yourself Board asks you to compare the components of spaces you've been apart of, that encourage authentic, bold and inclusive exchanges, with spaces that do not.  If you happen to find yourself on the 24th floor, please share your thoughts and/or read others.


In the meantime, stay cool and hydrated.  Today and tomorrow are 90 degree days!?


Best,

Dawn


________________________________
Dawn Colquitt-Anderson, Head of House, Tang Hall<https://studentlife.mit.edu/housing/graduate-family-housing/graduate-residences/tang-hall>
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
77 Massachusetts Avenue (W84)
Cambridge, MA  02139

617-225-6599



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