Residential Learning Communities

All first-year liberal arts students at Purchase College participate in smaller intellectual communities designed to appeal to students’ different academic interests and learning styles. Students may choose from three different types of intellectual communities.

Students in Residential Learning Communities take a minimum of two
courses together and live together in a freshman residence hall. The Learning Communities are coordinated by a faculty director who lives on campus and is therefore available for formal and informal advising, social and academic events and access all year. 

So choose your Learning Community now! Places are limited.

Learning Communities are designed for the bright and highly motivated students who will benefit from collaborative and concentrated learning. They are NOT remedial groups.

Students in Residential Learning Communities:

  • live together in preferential student accommodations, are guaranteed a double room and have a specially selected resident advisor
  • work closely with and are advised by a faculty member who lives on campus
  • have a minimum of two courses and faculty in common
  • will be given special peer advisors and tutors
  • participate in special academic and extracurricular activities, including theatre performances, field trips, dinners, and celebrations with their faculty member-in-residence

Why participate?

  • to get extra attention from faculty, staff and peer advisors who will help you excel and find informal ways of studying inside and outside of the traditional classroom
  • to get priority housing
  • to get to know other students who share similar interests
  • to join a community that lasts throughout your undergraduate years, to feel more bonded, more quickly, to the College and its academic and social life

2012-13 Residential Learning Communities:

  • From Page to Stage
  • Psychology and Everyday Life
  • Literature and Media
  • The Life of a Biologist
  • Rebels and Revolutions
  • Understanding Cultural Differences and Similarities



From Page to Stage (Residential Learning Community) 

One of Purchase's most exciting features is the amount and variety of performing arts on campus, especially theatre. These include visiting professional companies, Conservatory productions by both Theatre and Performance students and students in the Acting program, and many independent performances drawing students from across the campus. Page to Stage students will see and study a number of on and off campus shows, discuss their experiences, and write about how plays ("page") come to life in the theatre ("stage").They will enjoy special social events, receive student rate tickets, special lectures and presentations on the plays, and have a tour of the Performing Arts Center's state of the art theaters and other facilities.  Although Theatre and Performance majors are very welcome to join this learning Community, it is emphatically open to ANY student interested in watching, performing in, and talking about the theatre and performance. 

From Page to Stage is coordinated by Faculty Member in Residence Professor Gary Waller, an internationally known scholar of Shakespeare and Medieval and Renaissance drama

 

For more information, email: Gary.Waller@purchase.edu.

Psychology in Everyday Life (Residential Learning Community)

It takes a split second to recognize the face of a friend in a crowd or the voice of a loved one over the phone. The whiff of a few odor molecules can tell us whether our food is fresh and safe to consume or whether it has gone bad. While these processes of perception and recognition occur rapidly and automatically, they are the result of chains of events that are so complex and mindboggling that scientists have only begun to identify the steps of processing. This learning community will explore how perception is shaped by attention, emotion, and even culture. Students in this learning community will enroll in “Sensation and Perception” and “Freshmen Seminar” with Dr. Meagan Curtis, Assistant Professor of Psychology and Faculty Member in Residence.  This Learning Community is intended for students who have a strong interest in the psychology major.


For more information, email: meagan.curtis@purchase.edu


 

Literature and Media (Residential Learning Community)

Why are books and films banned? Or negatively reviewed? Or simply disregarded by the critical community? And why do some of these become popular and well-respected years after they were created? The Literature and Media Learning Community analyzes these questions first by looking at some books and films from marginalized groups. Students then do independent projects on such books and films of their own choosing. Students enroll in a special section of College Writing and the Freshman Seminar, taught by the director of this Learning Community, Kathleen McCormick, a Professor of Literature and Faculty Member in Residence. Students also enroll in a complementary section of a course that fulfills the Humanities requirement, taught by Lee Schlesinger, also a Professor of Literature. Students will participate in many social and intellectual activities, including theater and gallery visits in NYC and special dinners on campus. Students with interests in the Humanities are encouraged to apply, whether they have declared a major or not. This Learning Community always has some Literature, Creative Writing, and Journalism majors.

For more information, email:  kathleen.mccormick@purchase.edu



The Life of a Biologist (Mixed Residential and Nonresidential Learning Community)

The Biology Learning Community will provide support and camaraderie for students who are biology majors, or who are considering biology as a major. Students enroll together in General Biology I, as well as the accompanying laboratory and the Biology Freshman Seminar. A special peer tutor will be available to assist students who may be having difficulty with biology concepts, as well as preparing scientific written assignments such as laboratory reports. Group activities will include discussions about biological professions, explorations of local habitats and exposure to research opportunities on campus, in addition to sharing together in the rich cultural life at Purchase.

The Learning Community will be coordinated by biochemist Joanne Kivela Tillotson, associate professor of biology, who will also teach the laboratory sections of General Biology, and the Biology Freshman Seminar. Dr. Tillotson’s research area is the study of nutritional effects on the growth of cancer cells.

For more information, email: joanne.tillotson@purchase.edu


Rebels and Revolutions: Counterculture from Socrates to Super Size Me

The Counterculture Learning Community explores some of the major countercultural movements in the West, beginning with the Socratic counterculture and moving to present-day initiatives. We will examine the nature of each movement, identify their distinguishing characteristics, and study how one counterculture inspires another over time, specifically through art, literature, and philosophy. Students will analyze various texts and films to explore the complex theories that drove countercultural thinkers and their movements.

Peter Polinski, assistant director of the Advising Center, will coordinate the Learning Community and also teach the accompanying sections of College Writing and the Freshman Seminar.

For more information, email: peter.polinski@purchase.edu


 

Understanding Cultural Differences and Similarities (Residential Learning Community)

We are living in an increasingly inter-connected world where it is critical for students as informed members of the global community to have a deeper understanding and appreciation of cultural similarities and differences.  The Understanding Cultural Differences and Similarities Learning Community will focus on varied aspects of the modern human experience.  Particular emphasis will be placed on examining the similarities and the differences in political and economic systems, patterns of kinship relations and marriage, gender roles and identities, myth, ritual and religion, and language and communication across contemporary cultures and societies.  This Learning Community is designed for students who have an interest in the social sciences, particularly anthropology and sociology.  Some prior experience in traveling abroad or extensively in the United States is desirable but not required.

Professor Ahmed Afzal, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, will coordinate the Learning Community and also teach the accompanying sections of Introduction to Cultural Anthropology and the Freshmen Seminar.  Students will take part in documentary and feature film screenings, and field trips to museums and exhibits at Purchase College and beyond.

 

For more information, email: ahmed.afzal@purchase.edu

Updated January 27, 2012


Call the Office of Admissions:
(914) 251-6300
or e-mail us at:
freshmen.programs
@purchase.edu

or apply online.