Date: 11 September 2025

Hospitality is often understood as an act of welcome, care, and connection, yet it also raises questions about belonging, reciprocity, and the conditions under which people and non-human others are received. This panel brought together researchers to explore hospitality across diverse social, urban, and ecological contexts. Drawing on research into migration and urban life, human-animal relationships, transnational exchanges, and everyday practices of connection, the discussion examined how hospitality is experienced, enacted, and negotiated. Panelists reflected on forms of welcome and exclusion, the role of public spaces in fostering connection, and the ways hospitality circulated through networks that span local and global scales. The conversation also considered the researcher’s position as both host and guest in the field. Opening to audience participation, the panel invited collective reflection on kindness, reciprocity, and what it means to host others well in an increasingly interconnected world.