Residence life and housing offers a number of living and learning communities (LLC) that we invite first-year students to consider in their housing preferences. The living and learning communities provide an opportunity for first-year students with similar interests to live together while being strengthened and led as a community with the support of faculty, staff, and student leaders.
In all of these communities, students will engage with a wide variety of campus community members and form lasting relationships with one another. The minimum commitment for participants will be a regularly scheduled 2 hour bi-weekly meeting for the first semester. While residents in the community will live together for the full academic year, the bulk of the facilitated programming will take place in the first semester, creating conditions for autonomy and self-regulated programming in the second semester. Participants in the living and learning communities will receive CEL-1 hours for their participation.
How to Apply
Incoming students will be invited to indicate their interest in any of the living and learning communities on the housing preference form, which will be available on TheHub in June. The form asks students to indicate which, if any, communities to which they would like to apply. Applications for each community will be available on the new student to-do list. All applications are due on July 1, 2016, and students will receive a confirmation of our receipt of their forms after this date. Questions about the communities or application process can be directed to LLC@hampshire.edu.
Program Descriptions
The Body, Brain, and Culture Living and Learning Community (LLC) is co-sponsored by the Program for Culture, Brain, and Development (CBD). This LLC will provide a group of 12 first-year students with the opportunity to live among peers who are passionate about exploring the relationships between the body, brain, and culture. This community will promote a social environment for students to exchange ideas, spark discussion, share perspectives, reflect, and learn together. Through an interactive program of bi-weekly workshops and hands-on activities, students will explore the biological/chemical, neural/psychological, and cultural/societal factors that influence who we are and what we do.
In the fall, activities and workshops will be organized by CBD faculty, staff, and students. In the spring, with the help of CBD, LLC students will be responsible for directing portions of the programming. Students in the LLC are expected to participate in both semesters of the LLC activities. Examples of workshop topics include: exploring neuroscience and the arts; untangling the body/mind/brain connection; understanding stress and resilience; and representations of the human body across cultures and time. Students engaged in this LLC will gain exposure to the broad range of intersectional opportunities available to them at Hampshire; and can expect to gain meaningful relationships, lasting connections with faculty and staff, access to greater campus resources, tools for facilitating conversations and dialogue, and a foundation for campus leadership. This community will be located in Dakin House.
The Community Engagement for Social Change Living and Learning Community (LLC) is co-sponsored by Community Partnerships for Social Change (CPSC). This LLC will provide the opportunity to live among students who are passionate about putting social justice into action. It is a space to exchange ideas, collaborate, reflect, and learn together. Through an interactive program of workshops, field trips, dialogues, and local activism, students will develop skills and critical knowledge to become active and effective agents of change during their time at Hampshire and beyond. We will examine issues that arise in campus-community partnerships and how to best navigate these issues when working in communities that are not our own. Through workshops led by staff, faculty, students, and community leaders, CPSC aims to place the work in a larger context and provide tools for putting social justice into action. Most of these workshops will take place in the fall. Example sessions include: privilege/power and anti-oppression awareness, self care, organizing techniques, communication and facilitation skills, art for social change, mutual responsibility, and reciprocity. This community will be located in Merrill House, and will meet regularly in fall and spring semesters.
The Environmental Justice and Sustainability Living and Learning Community (LLC) is co-sponsored by the dean of students office. The LLC will introduce participating students to the healthy food systems, campus operations, creative curricula, and innovations in campus life that comprise the foundation of the Sustainable Hampshire initiative. Residents of the LLC will be introduced to Div II and Div III peers, faculty and staff, and local community partners connected to this work and to other environmental justice and sustainability efforts in the Pioneer Valley. In the fall, regular programming for the LLC will be scheduled with residents. This community will be located in Merrill House.
FARM! The Edible Living and Learning Community (LLC) is a new, interdisciplinary co-curricular living learning community, focusing on food production, environmental justice, and sustainable agriculture, radiating out from the vibrant Hampshire College Farm. FARM!, co-sponsored by the Hampshire College farm, will focus on following our food from seed to table, with numerous stops along the way. Students will learn about organic vegetable production and sustainable animal husbandry at the Hampshire College Farm, through CEL engagement, farm work, and other on-farm opportunities, such as participation in research activities. Other activities may include a film series, guest speakers, farm visits, cooking classes with seasonal vegetables, hyper-local meats, and local dairy products, and engagement with the local agricultural community. FARM! participants will be instrumental in shaping the content in the fall, with students taking initiative in the spring (with continued support) to create their own community programming. Through intentional work and living, FARM! students will develop meaningful relationships with other students, faculty and staff, connections to upper division students engaged in all aspects of the food system at Hampshire, and access to resources and opportunities on campus and across the Five Colleges.
The Looking/Reading/Writing Living and Learning Community (LLC) is designed for first-year students to engage critically in activities and discussions in the arts and humanities. This community is one in which approximately 12 students will be given the opportunity to live with one another while engaging in activities that involve the issues in art, literature, film, music, and curatorial studies. Staff, faculty, guest artists, and student leaders will lead discussions, workshops, and screenings that invite students in the LLC to examine the significance of creative expression in contemporary society, pursue relationships between art and law, and debate the historical importance of the arts for the human condition, while bonding and building friendships. Students will also have ample opportunity to participate in other initiatives in the arts, humanities, and critical theory at Hampshire and in the Five Colleges. Activities will involve reading together, watching films and performances, working with visiting artists, and traveling to exhibitions and events in the Five Colleges and New York City. The Kress Curatorial Fellow will oversee the community and hold open office hours for any residents with questions or concerns. Students can expect to gain meaningful relationships with one another, lasting connections with staff and faculty, connections to upper division students engaged in promoting the arts and humanities at Hampshire, and access to resources and opportunities on campus and in the Five Colleges.
The Wellness Living and Learning Community (LLC) is designed for first-year students to develop a holistic lifestyle that balances physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. This community, located in Merrill House, is one in which approximately 12 students will be given the opportunity to live with one another while learning about wellness topics in which they are interested, including, but not limited to, nutrition, meditation, mental health and stress reduction, sexuality, relationships, and other wellness topics. Staff and student leaders will lead bi-weekly discussions and workshops that invite students in the LLC to examine self and community care while bonding and building friendships. Students will also have ample opportunity to participate in other wellness-related initiatives and will make valuable connections with campus leaders with specialization in the field. The majority of programming will take place during the fall semester, leaving students autonomous (with continued support) in the spring to create their own community programming. The LLC will include a study and conversation space accessible only to students who live in the community. The director supported by the staff of OPRA (Outdoor Programs, Recreation and Athletics) will oversee the community and work closely with residents. Students can expect to gain from this experience meaningful relationships with one another, lasting connections with staff and faculty, access to greater campus resources, a sense of pride in their community, and a foundation for leadership in the arenas of wellness and community health. Please note: This community will be substance-free.
