Banner for From Empty ( ing ) the Nest to Families Flocking Together: Holding Space for Loss During the Transition to College

From Empty(ing) the Nest to Families Flocking Together: Holding Space for Loss During the Transition to College

by New Student & Family Programs

Lecture

Back to 2024 Family Weekend

Sat, Apr 27, 2024

11 AM – 12 PM MDT (GMT-6)

Add to Calendar

Private Location (sign in to display)

View Map
4
Registered

Registration

Details

Attending and sending a student to college can be a time of great pride and excitement, but also a change and challenge that conjures up feelings of loss for students and their family members. When this grief goes unacknowledged, students, parents, and other family members may experience sadness, uncertainty, and loneliness, as well as question their roles and identities in their families. In the face of these challenges, how can family members hold space for feelings of loss that arise during the college years and support one another to enhance student and family thriving? In this interactive session, family members will learn about research that addresses these questions, as well as engage in a creative exercise designed to facilitate reflection and family connection.

Speakers

Erin Willer, Ph.D's profile photo

Erin Willer, Ph.D

Professor of Communications4D Director of Faculty Innovation

University of Denver

Dr. Erin Willer\'s research/teaching/community work answers the question: how can we engage narrative, art, and embodied practices to cultivate well-being, creativity, compassion, and community in the face of illness, death, and loss? This work includes scholarship on critical grief pedagogy, infertility and perinatal loss, suicide, and mother/fatherhood. Dr. Willer teaches several community-engaged courses at DU—Communicating Grief and Loss, Visual Narratives of Women\'s Health, Communicating Empathy and Compassion, and Running as Feminist Embodiment—partnering with organizations such as Colorado Pregnancy and Newborn Loss Support, Girls on the Run of the Rockies, lululemon, and Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep. Learn More About Dr. Willer: https://liberalarts.du.edu/about/people/erin-kristine-willer

Hosted By

New Student & Family Programs | Website | View More Events

Contact the organizers