This paper considers what is at stake in the idea of universitas--a community of masters and scholars --in the context of the shifting landscape of higher education engendered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on the philosophy of Gabriel Marcel, we consider what it means to be together in a university community. We draw a distinction between the…

This essay explores how writing in community for EdD students can be pivotal in helping them succeed in their academic journey. Considering existing research, three UC Davis CANDEL EdD (Capital Area North Doctorate in Educational Leadership) students and recent alumni use a case study approach to highlight the ways writing in community was…

Searching for belonging is the transformative individual process of developing connections, making homes and hoping in the ecologies of a community. Belongingness influences academic performance, confidence and well-being. Therefore, understanding how students embody and search for belongingness in their higher education experience provides…

This article explores the dynamics of student engagement in small institutions, emphasizing their unique community-centered approach. Particularly in the post-pandemic era, where personalized support systems have become crucial, small institutions are reevaluating their strategies to enhance student empowerment and connection. Key aspects examined…

Based on an autoethnographic study, this article aims to better understand how graduate student residence life staff made sense of their responsibilities and roles in enhancing student belonging within residence halls. The article also explores how the graduate students' own sense of belonging was impacted as a result of COVID-19 policy.

This paper re-examines the tension between professional and liberal education by revisiting "The Idea of the University" (1852), the seminal mid-nineteenth century treatise of John Henry Newman. In returning to Newman's classic text, we are interested in the significance of his lectures for a contemporary Higher Education increasingly…

Deeply ingrained in honors culture and curricula is the value of connecting with and supporting students as whole persons. This essay offers personal experiences from the perspective of a compassionate educator who invests in the whole student, exploring how authentic teaching leads to rapport and belonging in the honors community and beyond. The…

The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically changed the practice of community-engaged scholarship and challenged internal and external boundary spanners to maintain and grow authentic and meaningful relationships. Female-identifying scholars and practitioners faced, and continue to face, extra personal and professional demands in the postpandemic era…

Attending to immigrants' social integration is a complex challenge for adult educators in ordinary times, and the complexity has significantly increased with the COVID-19 pandemic. This exploratory paper begins by outlining four aspects of social integration: forming social networks, developing a sense of belonging, linking social integration to…

This year, K-12 schools, colleges, and universities have doubled down on their endeavors to support students through a global health crisis, economic uncertainty, severe weather, and political turmoil. Despite these efforts, research shows that support services still fall short of meeting many students' needs. As schools develop strategies for…

This article offers a rethinking of a fundamental area of higher education research and practice: the concept of belonging. Extending the considerable international research attending to belonging, we suggest that normative narratives often contain a number of omissions. Such omissions include a consideration of the experiences of those students…

The changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in more virtual instruction in schools. Teachers experienced multiple new challenges while moving online. As Fleming (2020) notes, "Unlike developing a whole-class lesson plan online, special education teachers are now tasked with developing unique plans for every student that align…

To live is to be vulnerable. The fact of our fragility has been laid bare in some of the crises we face in public life in the United States: an uncontained pandemic, relentless racist violence, and persistent and worsening ecological loss. This essay argues that although education has sometimes promised (even obliquely) an economic, political, or…

In this article, we, as 3 faculty members in the English for Speakers of Other Languages Program at the Community College of Baltimore County, reflect on our experiences of transforming online and remote classrooms into a community during the pandemic and examine the literature that underscores how classroom community and belonging contribute to…

Media education is a cultural framework that can be applied in different contexts: schools, families, informal educational environments, along with pastoral work. With Pope Francis' championing, there is an increasing need to bridge pastoral care and the media, which can become new important forms of proximity and open opportunities to connect and…