Radical Inclusion: Broadening University Communities

This article examines two separate and distinct initiatives offered through the University Studies Program at Portland State University: (1) collaboration with an academic program for students with significant intellectual disabilities, and (2) senior-level Capstone courses that include students who are incarcerated. These initiatives are examined as examples of ways that University Studies is doing the work of effective radical inclusion in higher education. The authors reflect on their experiences within these courses that work with students from groups that have not traditionally been included, welcomed, and accommodated at the university. Additionally they share student reflections as evidence of the benefits for all students of these inclusive initiatives. The article also assesses the broader institutional significance of these two efforts to implement radical inclusion, including how the involvement of these very different groups of nontraditional students has shaped the authors and their learning communities, what University Studies is doing well to serve these two student populations, the challenges encountered, and considerations for the future.