Julia McKeown is the Othering and Belonging Institute's Campus Bridging Project Specialist. Julia graduated from UC Berkeley’s Folklore Program with a Masters degree in May 2022. During their last year as a graduate student Julia received support from OBI to bring poet Danez Smith to campus as part of a queer and trans poetry writing workshop, Calling the Elders, which they ran in partnership with the Queer Alliances Resource Center, Sexual Orientation and Gender Advocacy Project and Arts Research Center. Julia is excited to have the opportunity to deepen their work with OBI by supporting other student bridging initiatives on UC Berkeley’s campus and beyond. Julia has experience with story collecting, telling, and facilitating through their academic background, peace corps experience, and life as a poet. They believe that one of the best ways to communicate across differences is through metaphor and most enjoy these communications when they are spoken around a table or across a warm cup of tea.
