#NCLUDE Learning Groups

THIS GROUP IS NO LONGER BEING OFFERED THIS SPRING.

This learning group brings together community members to to explore how arts-based practices can help us imagine personally meaningful futures that we collectively inhabit. Using speculative design, remixing, and futurisms, we will critically reflect on current systems while envisioning new possibilities for higher education. Through creative, reflective activities, the group cultivates community, care, and imagination as tools for transformation. Together, we use art and story to sustain commitment and reimagine hopeful educational futures.

Anchor(s): Mac Kelsey
Location: TBD
Dates: 2/4/2026, 2/18/2026, 3/4/2026, 3/18/2026, 4/1/2026, 4/15/2026
Time: TBD
Open to: Undergraduate Student, Graduate Student, Faculty, Staff, Community Member
Track: Enhance skills for pursuing building community and environments that promote a sense of belonging and mutual respect

This group will explore our grading practices and the ways we can align our grading with student learning. The book we'll use, Grading for Equity, will challenge you to consider what grades mean in your classes, whether they align with learning, and how small and large changes may impact students' grades and retention. Reflecting on our teaching practices is hard, and personal, and this group is intended to generate a community of practitioners that can support each other in this work.

Admittedly, the book is more aligned with STEM courses and does target high school teachers, but the extension to our university courses is straightforward and maybe more pronounced.

Anchor(s): Joe Dauer
Location: JGMC 211 
Dates: 2/5/2026, 2/19/2026, 3/5/2026, 3/26/2026, 4/9/2026, 4/23/2026 (Reschedule date if needed)
Time: 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Open to: Graduate Students and Faculty.
Track: Enhance skills for pursuing building community and environments that promote a sense of belonging and mutual respect 

Looking for a hands-on way to relax, connect with colleagues, and unlock your creative side? Join our NCLUDE Creative Collective—a high-support environment dedicated to both craft and community!

This beginner-friendly group will meet to master basic, beginning crocheting techniques in a welcoming and supportive setting. Our primary focus is beyond the craft itself: it's about building genuine connections, fostering a deep sense of belonging, and providing a space for shared creative expression among colleagues.

Join our "Comfort Crew" to relax, share ideas, laugh over dropped stitches, and forge new friendships as we weave a stronger community together, one loop at a time. No prior experience is necessary, just a desire to connect and express your creativity!

Important Note
Participants must bring their own yarn and hook/needle to all sessions.
 

Anchor(s): Amy Peterson and Jennifer McKitrick
Location: Nebraska Union (City Campus)
Dates: 2/20/2026, 2/27/2026, 3/6/2026, 3/13/2026, 3/20/2026, 3/27/2026
Time: 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Open to: Graduate Student, Staff, Community Member
Track: Enhance skills for pursuing building community and environments that promote a sense of belonging and mutual respect; 

What does it take to be a courageous leader in today’s world? We will be reading Brené Brown’s book Dare to Lead as a way to challenge our views of leadership—not as a position of power, but as a practice of vulnerability, empathy, and connection. In Dare to Lead, Brown shares research-backed insights and practical tools for building trust, fostering resilience, and creating cultures where people feel safe to take risks and speak up. This book isn’t just for CEOs and Supervisors—it’s for anyone who wants Dare to Lead with heart and integrity.

Anchor(s): Brittney Palmer and Zee Cronin
Location: CPEH 134
Dates: 2/3/2026, 2/10/2026, 2/24/2026, 3/3/2026, 3/10/2026, 3/24/2026
Time: 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM
Open to: Undergraduate Student, Graduate Student, Post-Doctorate, Faculty, Staff, Alumni, Community Member
Track: Enhance skills for pursuing building community and environments that promote a sense of belonging and mutual respect

“I want to practice mindfulness… but I don’t have time.”
“I don’t even know how to meditate.”
“I have tried, but my mind won’t slow down because it’s too busy, too loud, or too restless.”
If any of this sounds familiar, you’re not alone.

That constant busyness in the form of racing thoughts, self-doubt, emotional overload, and pressure to keep going is the inner storm many of us carry while navigating university life and mindfulness can feel like one more thing on an already full plate. 

As the poet Rumi wrote:

“Why are you so busy with this or that or good or bad; pay attention to how things blend.”

This 6-session introductory series is designed for souls who are curious about mindfulness but unsure where...or how...to begin. Through guided practices focused on breath, body, thoughts, and emotions, UNL students, Faculty and staff will learn tools they can practice on their own, at their own pace, and in ways that fit into busy schedules. There is no required book for this series. Mindfulness is cultivated through practice, by noticing, pausing, and returning to the present moment. Short videos, guided exercises, and weekly practices will be shared to support learning through experience. Optional reflective journal writing will be included to support personal insight and integration, allowing each participant to process their experience in their own way. No prior meditation experience is needed. This is not therapy and not a commitment to long daily practice, just a supportive space to pause, learn the basics, and discover what mindfulness can look like for you.

Come as you are.
Practice here. Practice there.
Quiet the inner storm-one breath at a time.

Anchor(s): Dania Javaid
Location: JGMC 211
Dates: 3/6/2026, 3/13/2026, 3/27/2026, 4/3/2026, 4/10/2026, 4/17/2026
Time: 4:00 - 5:00 PM
Open to: Undergraduate Student, Graduate Student, Post-Doctorate, Staff, and Faculty
Track: Enhance skills for pursuing building community and environments that promote a sense of belonging and mutual respect

THIS GROUP IS BEING POSTPONED UNTIL THE FALL SEMESTER.

The book "The Social Biome: How Everyday Communication Connects and Shapes Us" by Andy J. Merolla and Jeffrey A. Hall will be the foundation of this discussion group. Merolla & Hall offer a sympathetic, practical guide to our vital yet complicated social lives and propose realistic ways to embrace and enhance connection and hope. We will dive into the importance of daily communication and how we can harness its power to create a better life.

Merolla & Hall's extensive research will help us establish a new way to think about our relational life, addressing questions like: How does each moment of interaction shape not only our relationships but also our worldviews? And how can we create moments of connection that improve our health and well-being, particularly in a world in which people are feeling increasingly isolated?

The concepts of this book, paired with our group interactions, will bring the power of connection to life!

Anchor(s): Trina Cress
Location: Nebraska Union (City Campus)
Dates: 2/10/2026, 2/24/2026, 3/10/2026, 3/24/2026, 4/14/2026, 4/28/2026
Time: 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
Open to: Undergraduate Student, Graduate Student, Post-Doctorate, Staff
Track: Enhance skills for pursuing building community and environments that promote a sense of belonging and mutual respect

“If we want to find the way back to ourselves and one another, we need language and the grounded confidence to both tell our stories and be stewards of the stories that we hear. This is the framework for meaningful connection,” writes Brené Brown in Atlas of the Heart. In this #NCLUDE learning group, we will read and explore Brown’s work to deepen our understanding of our own emotions and experiences—as well as those of the people around us. Her insights invite us to reflect, share, and build connection through skill-building, empathy, and mutual understanding. With intention, choice, and courage, we will take meaningful steps toward strengthening connection in our work, our communities, and our lives. 

Anchor(s): Jannah Vanié
Location: Love Library South Giesecke Room 217
Dates: 2/4/2026, 2/18/2026, 3/4/2026, 3/18/2026, 4/1/2026, 4/15/2026
Time: 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM
Open to: Faculty and Staff
Track: Enhance skills for pursuing building community and environments that promote a sense of belonging and mutual respect

This learning group will read and discuss Happy Fat, Sofie Hagen’s blend of memoir, humor, and cultural critique about living in a world obsessed with shrinking bodies. Hagen challenges harmful narratives about fatness, encourages readers to rethink their assumptions, and makes space for joy, self-acceptance, and liberation.

By exploring these themes together, the group will build a deeper understanding of how body size intersects with identity, belonging, and equity. These conversations can help us create environments where people of all sizes feel respected, included, and free to take up space.
 

Anchor(s): Carly Mendoza
Location:  Via Zoom
Dates: 2/10/2026, 2/24/2026, 3/10/2026, 3/24/2026, 4/7/2026, 4/21/2026
Time: 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Open to: Post-Doctorate, Faculty, Staff, Alumni, Community Member
Track: Elevate knowledge and awareness about diverse perspectives and shared experiences that shape our community