The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 41, No. 2 & Volume 42, No. 1 - 12

Welcome. You have just entered the university's living-learning center.
Foundational documents in student affairs
and higher education speak to the importance
of environments that foster student learning
in various settings both inside and outside of
the classroom (American College Personnel
Association [ACPA], 1996; American College
Personnel Association [ACPA] & National Association of Student Personnel Administrators
[NASPA], 2004; Kuh, 1996; Kuh et al., 2010;
Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005). The clarion
call to this holistic view of education that has
reemerged in the past several decades is supported by a wealth of research conﬁrming
the importance of connecting curricular and
cocurricular experiences to enhance student
learning and achieve other positive outcomes
(ACPA & NASPA, 1997; Astin, 1997; Kuh et
al., 2010; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005). Living-learning centers provide one example of a
high impact practice that connects the curricular and cocurricular realms.
This study uses a cultural lens and a case
study approach to examine the living-learning
center (LLC) described in the opening vignette.
By looking at an LLC through a cultural framework, the authors sought to understand the
potential of the culture of an LLC to impact its
effectiveness as a conduit of holistic learning
and personal development.
The living-learning community is rooted in
the English residential college model, exempliﬁed by Oxford and Cambridge, in which
students and faculty lived, dined, and studied
together (Duke, 1996; Smith, 1994). This
model, adapted by American higher education institutions, was characterized by a high
level of "intellectual intimacy" (Rowe, 1981, p.
12

52), an emphasis on the holistic education of
students (Smith, 1994), and the creation of a
tight-knit academic community. The essential
components that distinguish a learning community in a college residence hall include
commonality of purpose, unity, transcendent
values, and cohesiveness (Schroeder, 1994).
While these essential components are recognized by many, not all LLCs operate in the
same way.
Living-learning communities constitute
one way to accomplish the goal of connecting
two spheres of students' lives-in-class and
out-of-class-in an organic fashion (Brower
& Inkelas, 2010; Kuh, 2008; Wawrzynski,
Jessup-Anger, Stolz, Helman, & Beaulieu,
2009). A living-learning program is deﬁned
as a residence-based learning community in
which students "partake in coordinated curricular activities, but also live together in a
speciﬁc residence hall where they are provided
with academic programming and services"
(Inkelas & Weisman, 2003, p. 335). An institution's campus design and contextual and
environmental variables have a strong inﬂu-

Institutional environments
(including many LLCs) that are
afﬁrming, and academically
promote student satisfaction and
achievement.

THE JOURNAL OF COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY STUDENT HOUSING

The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 41, No. 2 & Volume 42, No. 1

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 41, No. 2 & Volume 42, No. 1