Connected Learning Theme House

One of the unique things about Carolina is that it provides theme housing for students who want more from their residential experience. The Connected Learning theme house brings together students who have projects that they want to carry out and connects them with the resources necessary to see the projects through.

When people think about dorm life at college, the images that pop into their heads are ones of tiny closets, wearing flip-flops to the bathroom, and dealing with strict resident advisors. One of the unique and great things about Carolina is the fact that it provides theme housing for students who want more from their residential experience.

Next year, I will be living with four of my friends in the newly renovated Cobb Dormitory to participate in the “Connected Learning” theme house. You can read about this in the Raleigh News and Observer.

The Connected Learning program aims to bring together students who have projects that they want to carry out and connects them with the resources necessary to see the projects through. It's sponsored by the Johnson Center for Academic Excellence, which sponsors programs and events that enhance the student intellectual experience. I first learned about the program during a meeting with Dr. James Leloudis, who is the director of the Johnson Center and the Honors Program.

Last semester, two of my friends and I founded a student organization called “The State of the Union Project.” Our goal is to bring more intellectual, progressive speakers to campus. For example, this spring we will be bringing University of Pennsylvania professor Elijah Anderson to campus for three days to talk about urban sociology. We submitted a project proposal to the Connected Learning program, and we were accepted into the program last week. Part of our project proposal was to submit a detailed budget, and we will receive a small stipend to help carry out our project.

The other great thing about this dorm is that we will have the chance to serve as mentors to incoming freshmen who live in Cobb, and incoming freshmen will have the opportunity to join our project, or one of the other 11 projects that will be starting next fall. One of the really great things about this project is that it has given me a lot of real-world experience with writing project proposals and learning how to secure funding for projects.

The Connected Learning program is just one example of how Carolina tries to enrich the undergraduate experience. There are several other theme houses where you can build your language skills, participate in public service and leadership activities, or take a public health seminar. For more on theme housing visit the Housing website.