Learning Communities
Participating in a residential based Learning Community (LC) is a great way to start your college experience. Living in one of our learning communities makes it easy to meet other students with similar interests, provides extra opportunities for getting to know faculty members, and enhances your learning experiences. Learning communities provide residents an opportunity to challenge and shape their identities, form strong communities, and building lasting legacies.
Our Learning Communities are organized around the mission and core values of Seattle University: Care, Academic Excellence, Justice, Faith, Leadership, Diversity, and Global Engagement. Our Core Learning Communities are: Faith and the Great Ideas ARC (Faith), Hurtado (Justice), Millie Bown Russell (Leadership), Xavier Global House (Global Engagement), and Oscar Romero S.J (Diversity). In addition to our, sophomores will have an opportunity to live in one our Sophomore Engagement Learning Communities. To learn more, please go to our web site: www.seattleu.edu/student/housing.
Faith and the Great Ideas
The Faith and the Great Ideas Academic Residential Community (ARC) is a unique and exciting freshman living experience that connects your freshmen Core classes to your home in the residence halls. Along with other members of the Faith and the Great Ideas Program, you will take a series of integrated Phase One Core courses in small-sized classes with a select group of outstanding faculty. As a member of this special cohort of freshmen, you will study great thinkers, writers, and artists from ancient, medieval, and modern times, as well as probe the relationship between faith and reason with experienced professors. Additionally, as a resident of this community, you will live on the same residence hall floor with other students in the program and enjoy the benefits of being part of a learning community, dedicated to taking full advantage of the complete freshman experience. In the past, events in this residential community have included special evening lectures on the floor, as well as excursions with professors to the Seattle Symphony, the Seattle Art Museum, the Seattle Opera, theater productions, new film releases, dining at various restaurants, attending Mariners games, intramural sports, and boating on Lake Washington. Often, these excursions end with informal conversations gathered around the fireplace. In Faith and the Great Ideas, learning takes place inside and outside the classroom. The theme for the 2009-10 academic year is, “Faith That Does Justice.” You must be admitted to the F&GI Academic Program in order to participate in the Academic Residential Community (ARC). If you are interested, please apply to the Faith and the Great Ideas Academic Program when filling out your New Student Preferences materials. For more information about Faith and the Great Ideas, please check out: www.seattleu.edu/FaithGreatIdeas. Questions? Contact Dr. Michael Andrews, director of the Faith and the Great Ideas Academic Program and the F&GI Academic Residential Community via email at F&GI@seattleu.edu.
Hurtado
The Hurtado Learning Community is home to a diverse group of first- and second-year students who share an active interest in exploring issues of social justice. Do you wonder what it means to be a responsible global citizen in the pursuit of a more just and environmentally sustainable society? Do you wonder where your best gifts meet the world’s greatest needs? Would you like to live and learn with a group of friends interested in community service and social justice? If so, then the Hurtado community may be for you. Designed to educate the whole person in the Jesuit tradition, the Hurtado community brings together faculty, staff, and students around an innovative program that integrates Core courses, community-based learning, and residential education. Students take classes with others in their community and get involved in frequent and exciting co-curricular activities. This learning community will equip you with the necessary skills to bring about positive social change.
Divided into three communities -- the social justice floor, the environmental sustainability and justice floor, and the gender and justice floor – the Hurtado community gives you the opportunity to focus your attention on those issues that most matter to you. Whether you are tutoring children at a local shelter, having floor discussions based on that day’s class readings, or cooking a dinner together with locally grown organic foods, you will enjoy a wide range of opportunities to explore the place of justice in the surrounding community and beyond. Students take an active lead in planning and promoting community events that range from retreats to salsa dancing, study groups to wetlands restoration service projects. Best of all, as a two-year learning community, Hurtado offers you the option to stay in the community throughout the first two years of your undergraduate education.
Millie Bown Russell
The Millie Bown Russell Leadership Learning Community offers first- and second-year residents the opportunity to explore Seattle University’s mission of “empowering leaders for a just and humane world.” Through academic, spiritual and social exploration, students are encouraged to build their leadership gifts and talents, discover their passions, and apply this understanding to their pursuit of justice in its variety of dimensions. The foundation of the Leadership Learning Community model is built on the relationships among social, civic, environmental, and spiritual leadership. The union of these leadership dimensions is the intersection of Leadership for the Common Good, where vision and action enable us to make a difference in the world.
In addition to three floors dedicated to leadership - the Millie community also offers a small women’s community focused on women and leadership. Residents are given priority access to a range of Core and elective courses taught by a variety of dedicated faculty who emphasize leadership for justice across a broad range of disciplines. The community offers an array of residential learning opportunities designed to complement the academic experience, such as: outdoor adventure experiences as a community or with at risk youth, leading local environmental restoration events, excursions to the state capitol to observe and participate in the legislative process. There are also opportunities to engage our diversity, participate in retreats through Campus Ministry, attend programs with community leaders, and take courses emphasizing leadership.
These tailored programs connect faculty, staff, and students in meaningful ways, enriching the experience and enhancing the sense of community. Through program participation, planning and implementation, residents will deepen their understanding of themselves as leaders and develop a leadership style all their own. Students may choose to participate in the leader-mentor program which pairs first- and second-year residents to share the leadership development journey. The leadership community provides the opportunity to explore one’s leadership potential, live Seattle University’s mission, and experience the Pacific Northwest in a variety of settings. Community experiences enhance any major, or can help discern one’s academic future. No prior leadership experience is necessary to participate in this community.
Xavier Global House
The Xavier Global House is an integrated learning community for freshmen through juniors that focuses on global issues and cross-cultural education. Made up of six distinct communities, Xavier Global House is designed to adhere to the overarching ideals of St. Ignatius of Loyola and the Jesuit educational tradition of a comprehensively global perspective. Xavier’s mission and vision is to provide an atmosphere that fosters a friendly, caring community where cultural diversity and respect for difference is valued. The Xavier community brings together faculty, staff, and students around an innovative program that integrates Core courses, community-based learning, and residential education.
Serving as the home of the Modern Languages and Literature programs, the community is occupied by students who share a sincere interest in global studies and cross-cultural education, with a desire to live in a culturally diverse and enriching learning environment. Xavier Global House is committed to increasing our understanding of global issues and the impacts of these issues on the lives, hopes, and fears of all citizens of the world. By providing international opportunities and a globally focused education, Xavier Global House prepares its residents for leadership, service, and justice in our complex world.
The following are the Xavier Global House communities:
French Experience/Spanish Experience
This community is for students interested in the language and cultures of the French and Spanish speaking world. It is preferred that students who choose to live in the community are enrolled in language classes or have some basic competency in one of these languages. Floor events revolve around studying the cultures of France, Spain, the French-speaking regions of Africa, the Caribbean, and North and Latin America. These two language communities are located together on the same floor.
Global Affairs Community
The Global Affairs Community is a community intended to challenge and motivate students whose interests, experiences and aspirations have a strong international component. In partnership with Global African Studies, this community offers a forum for the sharing of personal, global, and cultural experiences. Residents will be challenged to develop critical skills that facilitate learning and understanding of diverse cultures, lifestyles and customs. Residents will gain an understanding of international issues and the basis for cultural similarities and differences. By taking part in programs that emphasize cross-cultural interactions, residents of this community will have opportunities to develop interests in world cultures and current events, improve their understanding of global perspectives, practice foreign language skills and plan a future that might include international work or service.
Japanese and Chinese
Bridging cultures requires more than just language skills; it requires an understanding of culture. The Japanese and Chinese community invites you to a fulfilling campus living-learning experience. For those inquisitive about Chinese and Japanese cultures, this community provides myriad opportunities for exploration and discovery with like-minded students and faculty. Community activities allow students to savor the sensation of Eastern languages and cultures through music, film, cuisine, festival celebrations, talks, and daily practice of the language. You are invited to stay close to the rising Pacific Rim in the 21st century while on campus if you plan to take Japanese or Chinese courses or would simply like to immerse in various programmed language and cultural activities to prepare for your future career.
Oscar Romero
The Romero Learning Community is an inclusive community home to a diverse group of first- and second-year students who share an active interest in exploring issues of diversity in the broadest sense. Have you ever asked yourself the following questions: What does diversity mean? What is my role in creating a just and humane world? Is there a space to just be me? How can I make a difference in my community? If so this community is may be for you. As a resident of this community you will gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for diversity and learn how to be a catalyst for social change.
Residents of this community are given opportunities to explore their own identity, gain knowledge on issues such as power and privilege; and build skills to put their understanding of diversity into action. The Romero community brings together faculty, staff, and students around an innovative program that integrates Core courses, community-based learning, and residential education. Students take classes with others in their community and get involved in frequent and exciting co-curricular activities. Residents will have the opportunity to explore the many ethnic and cultural communities located in areas of Seattle such as; the International District, the Central District, Capital Hill, and Beacon Hill.
Divided into three communities -- the Women’s community, the Unity community, and Arts community – the Romero learning community gives you the opportunity to focus your attention on those issues that most matter to you.
Sophomore Engagement Learning Communities
Sophomore Engagement Learning Communities are communities designed exclusively for sophomores. These communities cater specifically to the sophomore experience in giving sophomores the opportunity to connect with faculty, Career Services, Academic Advising, and Center for Service and Community Engagement, and Campus Ministry to assist sophomores on their journey to self-discovery, vocational discernment, professional formation, and service.
The Sophomore Engagement communities bring together faculty, staff, and students around an innovative program that integrates Core courses, community-based learning, and residential education. Students take classes with others in their community and get involved in frequent and exciting co-curricular activities designed around the needs of sophomores such as retreats, specific career and academic guidance, and service trips in the local community.