Community Description

The Multicultural Learning Community is home to a diverse community of first-year and second-year students who share a passion for  exploring issues of diversity and social justice, including race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and more.  Members of the community explore their own identity, develop a deeper understanding and appreciation for others, confront the realities of power and privilege, and learn to become agents for social change.

The Multicultural Learning Community offers three course clusters: the Race and Ethnicity Course Cluster for students most interested in exploring issues of race and ethnicity, the Arts in Society Course Cluster for students most interested in developing an understanding of art as an expression of culture and as a vehicle for social change, and the Gender in Society Cluster for students most interested in exploring current and historical issues of gender and culture.

In 2012-2013, the Multicultural Learning Community will be home to 100 first-year students, 40 second-year students, and
20 incoming sophomore transfer students.  The first-year students live together in one of our 5 first-year residence halls while the second-year (including transfer) students will live together in Messina Hall.  Messina Hall will open in the Fall of 2012!

Activities and Programs

The Multicultural LC actively participates programs that aims to bring together students, faculty, and staff from different backgrounds to build deeper cultural understanding and to encourage action towards social justice.  Faculty have lead a number of student trips to cultural museums such as the Holocaust Museum, the DuSable Museum of African American History, and the Art Institute of Chicago and to theater productions around the city of Chicago that explore cultural events and perspectives.  Students volunteer with Loyola's Labre Ministry, which builds solidarity while providing food to the homeless around the Water Tower Campus and engage in service opportunities around the city with their faculty. 

Students will participate in a lot of programs and activities designed for the community as a whole as well as programs and activities specific to their course cluster.

Curricular Requirements

The curricular requirements provide wonderful opportunities to connect through coursework with peers in the community but also ample opportunity to meet friends from outside the community.  Faculty members who teach in the Multicultural LC also participate with students in activities and events outside the classroom, allowing students to develop stronger relationships with faculty members from their first day on campus.  

First-Year Student Curriculum

First-year students in the Multicultural Learning Community take 4 credit hours together in the Fall semester and 3 credit hours together in the Spring semester. All courses required for the Multicultural LC meet requirements for all degree programs at Loyola. Examples of courses taken by first-year students in the Multicultural Learning Community include:

Fall Semester (examples only)*	Spring Semester (examples only)*
Race and Ethnicity Course Cluster
SOCL 122: Race & Ethnic Relations (3cr)  OR  THEO 176: African American Religious Experience (3cr)	UNIV 190: Civic Engagement (3cr)
UNIV 101: Loyola First Year Seminar (1cr)
Arts in Society Course Cluster
UNIV 190: Understanding Service & Social Justice, Arts in a Democratic Society (3cr)	THTR 100: Introduction to Theater (3cr)
UNIV 101: Loyola First Year Seminar (1cr)
Gender in Society Course Cluster
HIST 104: Global History from a Feminist Perspective (3cr)	UNIV 190: Civic Engagement (3cr)
UNIV 101: Loyola First Year Seminar (1cr)