OCP is hosting monthly Imagining America Open Forums, a growing professional learning community for staff, students and faculty. Building from the public scholarship and community accessible to JMU as an Imagining America member institution, we hope to provide the space, time, nourishment, and multimedia to grapple with the contradictions of America through conversation and connection.

PLC Conversations for Fall 2025:

• September 11
• October 9 RSVP 
• November 13
• December 11

The Space
Office of Creative Propulsion
131 W Grace St.
Harrisonburg, VA 22807

The Time
Every second Thursday of the month
11 am-1 pm

The Nourishment
Lunch will be provided!

Mixed Media, Mixed Voices
Excerpts from literature, photos, videos, music, etc. will be curated around a monthly topic in order to guide, but not influence the discussion. The OCP is committed to bridging gaps across disciplines, and we strongly encourage you to voice your unique perspectives while respecting those of others.

Make Art, Make Community
Each month, we will craft these conversations together and will conclude with an arts-based activity (don’t worry—all skill levels welcome!) along with collective actioning beyond the meeting.

We look forward to sharing space with you!

Timeline
11–11:30 Lunch and Open Research
Enjoy provided lunch while reading, viewing, and listening to gathered resources around our monthly topic.

11:30–11:45 Welcome

11:45–12:30 Salon
Collaborative salon-style discussion around our theme that includes foundational research materials.

12:30–12:45 Making
Engage in a collective art-making project that attends to our discussion.

12:45–1:00 Action Items

“We urgently need to bring to our communities the limitless capacity to love, serve, and create for and with each other. We urgently need to bring the neighbor back into our hoods, not only in our inner cities but also in our suburbs, our gated communities, on Main Street and Wall Street, and on Ivy League campuses.” —Grace Lee Boggs