Welcome to the Heart of Higher Education 2023: Finding Our Place in Shifting Landscapes

Wherever you stand, be the soul of that place.
Your bright gaze will kindle this old shadow world to
Blaze up once again with the fire of faith.
-Rumi, One Song

Place. Place-Based. Placemaking. Soul of Place.

For each of us, these words may carry different meanings. They may bring to mind that place deep within ourselves. They may call to mind place in the context of engaging with others. They may instill strong feelings of those physical surroundings that are meaningful, potent, perhaps even connected with memory, as well as the others who inhabit those places and how deeply they impact our lives. Or they may immediately reflect on places which are welcoming – or exclusionary. Who among us has not asked,  “Do I belong here?”

However we examine it, place is powerfully important in our lives. Connecting with place in all its nuances can restore and nourish us as we seek to do our best work in a world that very much needs us.

We are so glad you have chosen to join this fifth annual gathering of professionals in education as we reflect on, explore, and sit with questions related to place: physical, interior, and the web of connection that weaves us together. Together we will rediscover ways to sustain ourselves as we foster our ability to enhance the common good on our campuses– connecting with those purposes for which we originally sought this vibrant vocation, and becoming more present, whether in the classroom, meetings, the hallway, or in residential life.