Learning Communities
Emerson's Learning Communities are designed to help smooth your transition to college. Learning communities offer invaluable opportunities for new students like you to get involved in meaningful and rewarding experiences from day one. Members of the community come together through programs and activities such as performances, readings, trips, community service, or informal gatherings. For freshman students accepted into Emerson College housing starting in the fall, you can download a Learning Community Application and Brochure. Please submit the application to the Office of Housing and Residence Life before the priority deadline of June 18, 2008.
STAR Community (Students Taking Active Roles)
Are you excited to start college, but just a bit worried about not knowing your way around? Are you hoping to connect quickly with people at Emerson and looking to live with students who feel the same way? The STAR community is designed for new students who wish to live in a smaller community comprised of fellow freshmen, while being a part of the larger Emerson community.
Living on a "freshman only" floor, you can develop lasting relationships with other students experiencing college for the first time. You can become familiar with important college resources (from peer tutoring to library services) and have increased contact with Student Affairs staff. During the fall semester, you will take a one-credit non-tuition bearing course devoted to college transitions and held on the floor where you live. Activities on the floor focus on community building, success in college, and involvement in the Boston and campus communities.
Wellness Community
Are you looking to explore how to live a healthier life? The residents of this floor learn about options that can benefit mind, body, and soul such as meditation, exercise, and nutrition.
Programs provide a fun way to experiment with wellness concepts and ideas that may not be familiar to you, and to discover how healthy choices contribute to success and contentment in college and beyond.
Students selecting to live on this floor commit to leading a lifestyle free of alcohol, nicotine, and other drugs, work with a team of other students from the floor to provide fun activities or workshops on wellness issues for the floor, and attend regularly scheduled meetings/programs.
Digital Culture
The Digital Culture community offers new perspectives on design and technology. Whether you are wondering what there is to do on the web beyond instant messaging, or you can debate the difference between AMD and nVidia for hours, Digital Culture is the place to talk about and experiment with new technologies shaping our world. Digital Culture means more than merely spending hours on a computer. It's a unique perspective on the world, including artistic and cultural expression, the culture of the web, graphic design, visual arts, and writing. Learn how the past has shaped the present and how modern-day practices and concepts will influence the designs to come. As Emerson students the future is our business, and Digital Culture is a great way to become an active part of that future.
Students who choose this LC reside in the Digital Culture residential area (on a space-available basis), where beginners, experts, and those in between share ideas and insights about our increasingly computer-mediated world and build a repertoire of technical and design skills.
Writers' Block
Do you love to write? Do you enjoy words? Are you a born storyteller?
Although some see writing as a solitary art, members of the Writers' Block are a close community of new and experienced writers who strive for writing excellence in coursework, workshops, and community events. Writers can come together in an informal setting to share ideas about writing, to experience the vibrant literary landscape in Boston, and to practice their craft. The Writers' Block produces a yearly literary anthology, The Writers' Block Literary Anthology, created entirely by students, and hosts writing-related events and fundraisers to showcase their talent. Students who choose this LC reside in the Writers' Block residential area (on a space available basis) and participate in informal writing workshops in the residence hall.
Local Action
For students excited to connect a focus on communication and the arts with a commitment to community involvement, Local Action (formerly LTS) offers an open and welcoming space in which to build friendships, develop leadership skills, and deepen awareness of local and global issues. Through a variety of service activities and experiences, LTS students will explore the city of Boston, make positive changes in the community, and connect these experiences to their academic learning and to leadership development.
Students in this LC will have the chance to participate in fieldwork, documentary exercises, and skills workshops, in addition to service activities throughout the year culminating in Emerson Action Week, an annual college-wide celebration of service and community. Students who choose this LC reside in the LTS residential area (on a space-available basis).
Performing Cultures
The Performing Cultures Learning Community offers students an opportunity to explore the ways diverse cultures and communities express themselves through performance and performative representation in the company of others who share their interest.
Students in this LC examine the distinctions between and interactions among various modes of creative expression across a wide spectrum of cultural contexts, investigating ritual, dance, theatre, literary performance, political and religious ceremonies, and performance in everyday life with special attention to issues of cultural identity and difference.
Community members develop strong bonds with their fellow students, faculty members, and connections to the Boston artistic and cultural community through field trips and other organized group activities. They learn about the richness of performance from aesthetic, cultural, and social scientific perspectives, and their year culminates in an event or project showcasing their experience. Students who choose this LC reside in the Performing Cultures residential area (on a space-available basis).
