Take your required classes in a new and innovative way!

Learning Communities integrate two or more popular courses using an interesting theme, like the ones below. Having the same classmates in both courses makes it easier to make connections and form meaningful relationships. Connecting two of your subjects through common readings, assignments and activities increases the relevance of material in both courses. Learning about real-world issues that matter beyond the classroom and applying what you learn makes courses more meaningful, which improves academic success. Getting to know, and be known by, your professors makes college classes more enjoyable.

To enroll, simply register for the specific courses and sections in the learning community. The courses will transfer and appear on your transcript just as they would if you took them separately.

Below you will find the schedule of Learning Communities being offered in upcoming semesters as well as a list of Learning Communities that may be offered soon.

Spring 2023 Learning Communities

The Game is Rigged

Imagine a world where there are neither distinctions in socioeconomic class nor social hierarchies or privileges based on religion, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality or nationality. Imagine a society where there is no hunger, no greed and no need for material possessions, and people are free to pursue creative passions and enjoy work. Is this a possibility in the capitalist society that we live in? Can such a utopia be achieved best by gradual reform or a sudden revolution? Critically analyze historical texts and contemporary issues, and explore how various systems of stratification – such as class, race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality – intersect with religion and our political and economic systems.

Prerequisite: Eligibility for ENG 101/ENG 101A

Fulfills General Education Requirements: ENG-101 (English Composition) and SOC-111 (Social & Behavioral Sciences, Diversity)

There's No Place Like Home - New!

Define and question what “home” means and investigate “place-making.” We will explore how a sense of place functions for individuals as well as what “place” means to particular groups of people. Through literature and using anthropological concepts and theories, we will examine connections to physical landscapes, social structures and emerging communities. Students will conduct fieldwork where they will map their own relationship to home and place before interviewing others to locate and learn about where they find belonging and attachment. View the Truxal Library special topic guide for this learning community.

Prerequisite: Eligibility for ENG 101.

Fulfills General Education Requirements: ENG-101 (English Composition) and ANT-121 (Social & Behavioral Sciences)

WHO TELLS YOUR STORY: SPEAKING, WRITING AND REFLECTING ON THE BROADWAY MUSICAL "HAMILTON" 

Focus on “Hamilton: An American Musical” (2015) composed by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Explore the musical’s current and relevant themes as we examine communication, English, history and the performing arts. The musical will serve as a springboard to explore texts used to create the play: a biography of Alexander Hamilton, historian Joanne Freeman’s scholarship on duels and historical documents penned during the era. The reading, researching and writing completed in the ENG-102 course will work as a foundation for speeches in COM-111.

Prerequisite: Successful completion of ENG-101/ENG 101A or ENG-101H with a grade of C or better.

Fulfills General Education Requirements: ENG-102 (English Composition) and COM-111 (Arts and Humanities)

General Learning Community Offerings

Anatomy of a Monster

Explore a variety of psychological concepts and use that knowledge to enhance our study of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein.”Discussion topics will include, but not be limited to, the definition of monstrosity, ethics and morality, language acquisition and cognitive development, trauma, freewill versus fate, the nature of evil, persecution and rejection and a wide range of psychological disorders.

Prerequisite: Eligibility for ENG 101.

Fulfills General Education Requirements: ENG-101 (English Composition) and PSY (Social Sciences)

Business and Technology: How to be Successful in the Digital Age

This learning community will focus on how technology is used to augment business globally. Students will examine best practices and develop skills using various forms of technology for research, analysis and data processing.

Prerequisite: Eligibility for ENG 101/ENG 101A.

Fulfills the technology general education requirement: CTA-100

From Revolution to Reform 

This learning community examines how visual, performing and literary arts have been used for nation building, reform and civil disobedience. We examine how the arts reflect and undermine the political values of the individuals and social groups that produced them. Case studies include: the use of neoclassical architecture to reinforce democratic ideals; Indigenous cartography; how documentary photography circulated to protest unjust labor practices and racial discrimination; the popularity of craft knowledge as a feminist political strategy; and the debates surrounding public monuments during the Black Lives Matter movement. 

Prerequisite: Eligibility for ENG 101/ENG 101A.

Fulfills General Education Requirements: HUM 101 (Arts & Humanities) and HIS-212 (Arts and Humanities, Social & Behavioral Sciences)

Kicking Ass to Find Inner Peace

How should one deal with conflict? Explore methods from both the Western and Eastern traditions that martial artists use to face conflict and find balance. How does a martial artist prevent conflict? How does the martial artist use internal and external weapons to end conflict? How does the martial artist show compassion in a conflict? These are some of the fascinating questions we will explore through the works of some of the greatest thinkers and philosophers in history.

Prerequisite: Successful completion of ENG 101/ENG 101A with a C grade or better

Fulfills General Education Requirements: PHL-111 (Arts and Humanities) and ENG-102 (English Composition)

Last (W)rites: Dealing, Not Dwelling, with Death

Rites (and writing) surrounding death have allowed us space to grieve and to celebrate, to mourn and to move on. Build on the skills in writing and research you learned in English 101, but add your own voice, focusing on human encounters with death and memorializing, while establishing your skills as a speaker and presenter. Study social traditions and individual inventions for coping, texts and tributes, and local sites of interest while becoming a stronger orator. 

Prerequisite: Eligibility for ENG 101/101A.

Fulfills General Education Requirements: ENG-102 (English Composition) and COM-111 (Arts and Humanities)

Let's Speak About the Same Kind of Different

How do your life experiences influence your perceptions of others? Do you naturally see the similarities, or do you notice the differences? Explore how symbolic interactions relate to blind spotting specific cultures and/or groups. Identify a group to represent with a call of action to fuel a change in their community. Gain a heightened sense of cultural awareness, interpersonal skills and small group dynamics. Crank up your communications skills with table topics, group panels, talk shows and individual speeches.

Fulfills General Education Requirements: COM-111 (Arts and Humanities) and SOC-111 (Social Science and Diversity)

Our Bodies, Our Voice

Did you know your mindset about health influences your behavior? Your food choices will determine how you feel today, tomorrow and in the future. Explore your health and enhance your wellness while learning how to influence others to do the same. Students will learn about the dimensions of wellness and research current health topics to persuade an audience to make healthy lifestyle changes! Learn how to take care of yourself and use your voice to impact global wellness. This course is a step towards delivering effective messages, setting specific goals to gain self-confidence and creating a healthier you.

Fulfills General Education Requirements: COM-111 (Arts and Humanities) and HEA-14 (Wellness)

We and They: The Color Line in America Today

Do Black lives matter? Am I Mexican enough? Are you a terrorist? Why do you keep calling me Jackie Chan? Where are you from? You’re mixed? Why are you so angry? Why should I feel guilty? Can we please stop talking about this? In 1900, W.E.B. DuBois asserted that “the problem of the 20th century is the problem of the color line.” Where do we stand today? Has anything changed? Explore race, ethnicity and other intersecting social identities such as class, gender and sexual orientation through a sociological lens by analyzing texts and engaging in a hands-on campuswide research activity about people’s thoughts, experiences, questions, frustrations and hopes about race and identity.

Prerequisite: Eligibility for ENG-101

Fulfills General Education Requirements: ENG-101 (English Composition) and SOC-111 (Social Sciences and Diversity)