The inaugural panel discussion of a new CAUS Diversity Committee initiative: Intersections: interdisciplinary conversations about social justice and the built environment. Our first panel topic is “The Local,” and the three VT faculty panelists are C.L. Bohannon, Landscape Architect, School of Architecture + Design; Michael Borowski, Artist + Photographer, School of Visual Art; Erika Meitner, Poet, Department of English. This initiative intends to spark conversations and create an ongoing dialogue about social justice and the built environment. By asking questions about how architecture and design can reinforce/question/break down existing social structures, the hope is to raise awareness of these issues within CAUS and beyond. The initiative takes its starting point in student interest in the proposition that “architecture can be a transformative engine for change” (as stated by Architect Michael Murphy in his February 2016 TED talk). We hope this spark will lead to broad conversations across Virginia Tech and beyond.