WIC As a Community Space

Space has the ability to be transformed, depending on one’s perspective. For example, disability culture activist and community performance artist Petra Kuppers explores in her book Studying Disability, Arts, and Culture: An Introduction (2014) how she likes to play with the structure of the room by having students position themselves in places where they may not normally sit, stand, lay down, etc. Her goal is to create livable spaces in the classroom, so students can feel at ease. Petra Kuppers calls this playing with classroom conventions to help students become more aware what works best for them (p. 5). 

Within the Weigle Information Commons (WIC), I am excited how we are playing with such conventions while exploring what it means to develop community. How are we doing this you ask? By offering the following during the week: 

• Free tea  

• Fidget takeways (that you can keep) 

• Fidget checkouts (that you can sign out with Penn Card while in WIC) 

• Boardgames  

I hope these simple services will be an opportunity to step away and check in with yourself and others. Students spend much of their time studying and meeting at WIC that it is important that they see it as one of their community spaces – And a community space should make one feel welcomed and feel at ease. I am excited to see how the above may contribute to that. It could be having a conversation with a friend or one of our Student Assistants while drinking some tea. It can be exchanging smack-talk and laughter over a boardgame. Or it can be centering yourself with a fidget. 

And because it is a community space, I am excited to see how these offerings change and what may be added because of student input. In the meantime, if someone would like to participate, come to the Welcome Table at WIC, across from our digital sign.