2067V - Returning to Ourselves: Co-creating Communities of Belonging for Minoritized SLHS Scholars Working Toward Liberatory Consciousness

This session is developed by, and presenters invited by, Equity and Cultural-Linguistic Diversity. In recent years, there have been emerging efforts to integrate anti-oppressive initiatives in the field of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences. As a result, minoritized scholars have been predominantly leading the task of increasing critical consciousness within classrooms, departments, and institutions. Creating and directing transformational change that leads to raised liberatory consciousness can demand much dedication and commitment from a minoritized scholar, while simultaneously leaving them vulnerable to experience institutional, peer, and student retaliatory actions, which can negatively impact their sense of belonging. This presentation will provide examples of how groups, like learning communities or coalitions, serve as containers of imagination and pathways to healing. Examples of lessons learned in those shared learning spaces and additional resources will be provided.