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Living Learning Communities

2013-14 LLC Theme and Faculty Director Announcement

Dear Campus Community:

In Early October, Executive Vice President and provost Julie Sullivan, Dean Mary Boyd and Vice President of Student Affairs Carmen Vazquez, announced the full implementation of the first-year LLC program in the fall of 2013. With 100% of first year students participating in the program, a Living Learning Communities Committee was formed and charged, among other things, with developing a process for creating new LLC themes. For more information about the committee, please reference http://www.sandiego.edu/cas/llc/directory/committee.php

A call for themes was sent to all faculty in CAS, SBA and Engineering on October15, and the committee received many fascinating proposals. With two openings for new themes in the 2013-14 academic year, committee members voted on the proposals between November 8-12. Simultaneously, a call for LLC Faculty Directors was sent out on October 10, and with recommendations from the committee, Dean Mary Boyd made selections on November 13.

We are pleased to announce the new themes and new faculty directors for the 2013-14 academic year. If you are interested in serving as a preceptor for one of these themes, we encourage you to reach out to the Faculty Director and submit your preceptor application by November 21. Keep in mind preceptor selection decisions will be made by the Department Chairs and Associate Dean Gump in conjunction with the Faculty Director.

For further information about the program, please visit our website: www.sandiego.edu/llc

CHANGE

Faculty Director: Jane Friedman, Mathematics

Change is the only constant; it is essential for human existence and in the physical world. No matter how hard we strive to maintain consistency, we change. How do gene changes drive biological evolution? How do market forces influence consumer and producer behavior? How does history mark the passage of human change? How have attitudes about racial and ethnic differences evolved over time? What role do mathematics and computer science concepts play in the notion of change? Discover answers to these questions and develop your own in the “Change” Community.

FAITH AND REASON

Faculty Director: Ron Pachence, Theology & Religious Studies

What is the relationship between faith and reason? Science and religion? How is it possible to experience the presence of the Sacred in the ordinary experience of everyday life? Sometimes people who take pride in the power of human intellect look down on religion as a crutch for those who rely on the wisdom that comes from a “higher power”. Religious communities sometimes assume that if a scientific theory contradicts their faith, it must be an error. This LLC is for students who see faith and reason as complementary ways of human nature, and are curious about the world and our place in it. Everyone is welcome to participate in this dynamic community: Catholic students, students from other Christian denominations and faith traditions, as well as those who are searching for religious identity.

HONORS

Faculty Director: Del Dickson, Political Science

This LLC is a community of first-year honors students dedicated to academic excellence. It will serve as your connection to a challenging and rewarding liberal arts education as you join the vibrant company of scholars to explore the universe of human knowledge. You will learn to make your own connections among a vast range of classes, disciplines and ideas, and turn old knowledge into new insights. The Honors LLC is no ordinary first-year program; it marks the beginning of a lifelong quest for knowledge, enlightenment, self-improvement and social progress.

INTERSECTIONS

Faculty Director: Alan Gin, Economics

This LLC explores the physical and human elements that form community. How do people build and maintain communities? What roles do physical proximity, technology, and diversity play in the development of urban communities? What happens when cultures clash, coexist, and come together? How does difference intersect in complex economic and political systems shaped by the contours of power and privilege? San Diego’s location on the border with Mexico provides an interesting and international lens through which we can view these questions. Discover first-hand these intersections in the urban classroom that is America’s eighth largest city.

GLOBALIZATION

Faculty Director: Alyson Ma, Economics

Are we headed for a World Government? Are our cultural commonalities stronger than our cultural differences? The culture of any particular place is under the profound influence of past and present cultures around the world. Local events in rural Iraq and Afghanistan have dire consequences in Washington, D.C.; factories are evermore mobile, moving from country to country where the production is most profitable; national economies become intensely interconnected with the cross-border movement of capital. The rise of the internet and increased global communication continue to shape our economic, political, social, and cultural identities. Explore the interconnectedness of our ever-shrinking world in the Globalization community.

THE NATURAL WORLD

Faculty Director: Terry Bird, Biology

Are you interested in all dimensions of scientific thinking? Have you ever wondered about the responsibilities scientists have to the local, national and global community? Is science and discovery displayed in the visions of artists and actors? Can a biologist, philosopher, anthropologist and economist contribute equally to the advancement of science? If you are interested in all aspects of human discovery, this LLC will explore common questions about scientific discovery, ethical and responsible science, and the consequences of scientific knowledge. Throughout your first year you will explore fundamental questions about the sciences through multiple lenses.

SOCIAL JUSTICE

Faculty Director: May Fu, Ethnic Studies

The Social Justice community is ideal for students who are interested in analyzing contemporary, economic, and historical issues of peace and justice in local, national, and global contexts. Together they will live, learn, and investigate social activism, social change, and the philosophical foundations of justice. What is activism? Is it human nature to value social justice? How can their academic experience be linked to justice issues and the San Diego community?

SPACE PLACE SOUND

Faculty Director: Evelyn Kirkley, Theology & Religious Studies

Have you ever wondered about the variety of spaces humans construct? Have you pondered your place in the universe? How have ideas about space and place changed over time? How can art, performance or music transform a contemporary space into a sacred space or a magnificent space? How does technology shape our relationship to space, place, and sound? What turns a space into a place of belonging, a home? Explore these questions through the context of history, art, architecture, music, the cosmos and especially the imagination.

SUSTAINABILITY

Faculty Director: Colin Fisher, History

Do you think USD can become a carbon neutral campus? Can environmental awareness be expressed in art or poetry? What is ecological stewardship? How can the sciences, social sciences and humanities collaborate to create an environmentally sustainable world? Explore these questions with your peers in the context of positive environmental change and practice "green living." Whether you are interested in sustainable fisheries, cultures of environmentalism or graphic depictions of environmental living, this LLC invites all who are interested in sustaining our environment.

Thank you,

Noelle Norton, LLC Academic Affairs Coordinator

Margaret Leary, LLC Student Affairs Coordinator