The document discusses Mary Louise Pratt's concept of the "contact zone" presented in her 1990 lecture. Pratt argued that the idea of community is utopian, and that cultures actually meet, clash, and grapple in social spaces she called "contact zones." The contact zone framework recognizes that societies profess values like equality but often fail to embody them fully due to human tendencies like fearing the unknown. The essay then provides a personal anecdote about the author being accepted to Northeastern University, a diverse university seen as a type of contact zone where different people can meet and embrace diversity.