Chadbourne Residential College Makes Debut

Chadbourne Residential College, a new learning community debuting this fall at UW–Madison, promises to reinvent residence hall living for hundreds of students. Rather than just a place to unwind, Chadbourne will become a nerve center of intellectual pursuits.

CRC is the latest addition to UW–Madison’s residential learning communities, which give students a chance to connect academic and personal life. Chadbourne will celebrate the learning that takes place outside the classroom by pulling together some of UW–Madison’s best academic assets and bringing them home to the residence hall.

History professor William Cronon, director of the Letters and Science honors program and developer of CRC, says the hope is to offer students the best of two distinct academic worlds. CRC will give undergraduates the intimacy and attentiveness of a small liberal arts college within the bustling research university, he says.

CRC’s first-year itinerary is already loaded. Residents will be able to socialize with famous visiting artists and writers, who will stay at CRC during their campus visits. They will have weekly access to workshops on everything from choosing a major to getting a job. They will meet socially and get to know personally some of the UW’s best faculty (more than 60 faculty have signed on with CRC). Or they can organize late-night poetry readings or concerts at CRC’s new coffee house, which will feature a performance stage.