Learning Communities
for
First-Year Students
Spring Semester 2008

At KennesawStateUniversity, all full-time, first-year residential students with fewer than 15 credit hours are required to register for a learning community. Full-time, first-year commuter students with fewer than 15 credit hours are required to register for either a learning community or a first-year seminar (KSU 1101; BIOL 2101 counts as the first-year seminar for biology majors).

LC #1 If Elected I Promise !!!  These four words have haunted us since the beginning of our republic. Join us as we attempt to decipher the 2008 presidential election. The promises, the personalities, the issues, and the various campaigns of this important time in our political history will be our primary focus. As the candidates seek to "edutain" us, we will critically examine the political process, the road to the election, and discuss campaign platform issues.

LC #2 Leadership. In this hands-on learning community, we will study the theories of leadership and put them into practice. Students will participate in civic engagement projects, classroom presentations, and outdoor experiential education methods.

LC #3 The Wisdom of the Owl: Understanding Behavior and Cognitive Development within KSU's Community of Scholars.  Professors have high expectations of their students and of their academic success. As a member of the Kennesaw State University community of Owls, you took a pledge to "strive for personal and academic excellence."  The two courses within this community will engage you in an active learning process that will develop your behavioral and cognitive skills - skills essential to your survival and success in this community of scholars. Similar to owls in the wild that rely on their survival instincts to capture their prey, KSU students hunt for knowledge and wisdom by working diligently and from time to time by becoming "night owls." In this learning community, you will work to develop the Wisdom of the Owl that will lead to your ultimate capture – graduation.

LC #4 Narratives of Survival: Rebuilding the Bayous after Hurricane Katrina.  In the Louisiana bayous and the New Orleans area, people continue to recover from Hurricane Katrina, which struck the mainland on August 29, 2005. Using an academic blueprint that connects both the visual and verbal arts, students will explore this struggle to reconstruct a lifestyle by building upon their understanding of narratives of survival.

LC #5 Globalization and You:  How the Global Economy is Shaping Your Future. Think global economics doesn’t relate to you?  Think again.  Globalization has not only affected international relations and led to a shift in the world market – it has also affected the job market in the U.S.  This learning community links Economic 1100 with English 1102.  While you explore the theories and principles in Econ, your English composition course will offer you the opportunity to explore through readings (e.g., Thomas Friedman’s The World is Flat) and in your writings how global economics directly affects you – and your future career. [This community has been specifically designed for second-semester students as well as incoming students who have completed English 1101. Business majors should not enroll in this community.]

LC #6 Wellness Works.   In 2002 the California Department of Education completed a study which showed that fit individuals achieved scholastically at a higher level than unfit individuals. Fitness and wellness affect every aspect of your life, including how well you perform in school now and in your career later. Find out how to use good fitness behavior choices to maximize your successes in life while honing your ability to express yourself effectively when you join us to explore why Wellness Works. [This community has been specifically designed for second-semester students as well as incoming students who have completed English 1101.]