Res hall to expand international living, learning

University students living in the new International Learning Community this fall will have a chance to live the languages and cultures they are studying.

Partly new concept and partly an expansion of Global Village in the Merit residence hall, the ILC will be housed in Adams Hall and accommodate 60 students, double the number in the current program.

Michael Hinden, associate dean of the International Institute who will serve as the new learning community’s faculty director, says Global Village will re-locate to the ILC “where it will have room to grow.”

Learning communities, also a growing phenomenon at colleges and universities around the world, seek to integrate educational opportunities into the very fabric of students’ daily lives. Field trips, lectures, in-house courses, special meals, projects, discussions, social activities and more might be on the agenda of a learning community; in addition to those, the ILC will link with immersion programs in Adams Hall for students studying foreign languages, Hinden says.

“The first language floors will feature German and Italian, and we hope to add Spanish the year after next. Perhaps eventually we will include other language floors, depending on demand,” he says.

Hinden points out that the ILC will not duplicate the efforts of French House, a privately funded residence affiliated with the Department of French and Italian. French House has offered residential language and cultural immersion since 1918.

Lori Berquam, student services program manager in University Housing, says the ILC is intended both as preparation for students who intend to study abroad, but also as a welcoming environment for international undergraduates or any student interested in living in an international community.

The ILC and a new Multicultural Learning Community in Witte Hall both will be new university housing options this fall. Other UW–Madison learning communities include the Chadbourne Residential College, Bradley Learning Community for first-year students and the Women in Science and Engineering program in Elizabeth Waters.

Space in any of the learning communities is available for fall 2002. For information, contact Berquam, (608) 265-8035, lori.berquam@mail.housing.wisc.edu.

For more information about the ILC, contact Hinden, (608) 262-9838, mchinden@facstaff.wisc.edu.