Living Learning Communities
Creating a Community of Life-Long Learners
Living Learning Communities are available to all incoming freshmen living on campus. Applications are still being accepted. Start your Stockton experience off right by applying today: Click here to access the application!
For questions regarding the program, email John Perovich, Associate Director for Residence Education, at john.perovich@stockton.edu.
Living Learning Communities (LLCs) at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey give students a unique, inclusive residential learning experience that connects classroom learning with residential life. First-year students enjoy all of the advantages of living on campus in a residence community, with the added benefit of living among a group that shares academic goals and interests. Stockton's Living Learning Communities include: Honors, Nursing, Political Engagement, Sustainability, and Writing.
Through interest based programs that connect students, faculty, and staff, student's active engagement and involvement in a Living Learning Community allows them to broaden their perspectives and understanding of the world. This holistic approach complements classroom experiences and lays the foundation for students to become better prepared to succeed in life beyond college; to become a life-long learner.
Located in specific floors of Housing 2, Living Learning Communities provide the opportunity to become a part of a unique experience, with programs, facilities and mentors to support the interests of community members.
As a member of the Living Learning Community, students will have the chance to get to know faculty on another level, develop strong friendships with fellow students, and explore enriching experiences beyond the walls of the classroom. Residents will have access to special resources and activities, such as seminars, tutors, and reserved space in a Freshman Seminar (all freshmen are required to complete a Freshman Seminar in their first semester); Writing LLC students will reserve a space in a "W1" class (writing intensive); a "W1" is a requirement for all freshmen to complete during their first year.
For more information, refer to our Living Learning Community FAQs.
Stockton’s Honors Living Learning Community provides an opportunity for students throughout their college career to combine challenging courses with service learning to foster a warm, supportive intellectual environment.
Professor Lisa Rosner
Faculty Advisor, Honors Living Learning Community
Lisa Rosner is Distinguished Professor of History and Director of the Honors Program, http://www.stockton.edu/honors. She teaches European history and history of science as well as the Honors freshmen seminar and Honors Service Learning. Her current research focuses on medical murders, anatomy drawings, and 18th-century voyages. She is also working with the College of Physicians of Philadelphia on an online role-playing game about the history of smallpox, called Pox and the City. She is one of the faculty advisors for Stockton Alpha Lambda Delta, the freshman honor society, and for Stockton Innovations, the undergraduate journal of research and creativity, http://www.stockton.edu/innovations.
Fun fact: As an undergraduate, she was one of the founding members of the Princeton Mime Troupe, but she unfortunately found that she has no talent for remaining silent for long periods of time.
Honors LLC Course - GEN 1033, Life of the Mind, Faculty TBD
Only open to Honors freshmen. This is a freshman seminar.
This is an Honors course open only to students in the Honors Program. This course provides a challenging and stimulating introduction to the intellectual and creative life of college work. The themes vary each year but the focus is always on small-group discussion and projects, critical reading, and written and oral expression. Opportunities may include field trips, guest speakers and performances.
The Honors Living Learning Community has a competitive application process. For more information, please visit the Honors webpage: http://www.stockton.edu/honors.
The Nursing Living Learning Community is committed to introducing students to what it means to be a caring, professional nurse in today's world. In the Nursing LLC, students can expect to go to many places, such as schools, homecare and shelters to witness nursing in practice and to provide nursing care to people in need.
Professor Ann Walker, RN, MSN
Faculty Advisor, Nursing Living Learning Community
Professor Walker instructs the freshman seminar and works closely with the Nursing Living Learning Community. She has many years of clinical and administrative experience in geriatric, pediatric, maternal child, home care and public health nursing in her career. She has worked on grants supporting positive youth development, parenting education, environmental health and men's urban health. Additionally, Professor Walker has traveled to meet and work with nurses in India. Her current interests are advocating for children in foster care and participating in the medical reserve corps in her community. In Professor Walker's spare time, she enjoys traveling, going to the movies, relaxing at the beach and spending time with family and friends.
Nursing LLC Course - GSS 1053-001, Ethics and Professionalism, Professor Ann Walker
Tuesday & Thursday, 10:30AM to 12:20PM
Only open to Nursing freshmen. This is a freshman seminar.
This course will introduce the concepts and principles of ethical behavior and professionalism. Students will explore the history of the development of ethics and the professions, and will learn criteria necessary for professional status. Ethical theories, principles, and professional values will be studied. Course content will include the application of critical thinking skills to ethical and professional issues; and the role of writing skills for health professionals. Professional responsibility and accountability will be a focus for study.
For more information on the Nursing Living Learning Community, contact Professor Ann Walker by email at ann.walker@stockton.edu or by phone 609-626-3463.
Stockton’s Political Engagement Living Learning Community provides an opportunity for energetic first-year students who are passionate about politics, social change and public service to meet and join forces with other members of the Stockton community—students, faculty and staff—who share these interests. You’ll engage in discussions of current issues in local, national and global politics, have opportunities to raise public awareness of issues that matter to you, and learn how to mobilize others on campus to get involved and affect change.
Professor Linda J. Wharton
Faculty Advisor, Political Engagement Living Learning Community
Linda Wharton teaches courses on the Constitution, law and the Supreme Court. Before coming to Stockton in 2001, she had a long career as a public interest lawyer where she fought against laws that discriminated against women and men on the basis of sex. In 1992, one of her cases—Planned Parenthood v. Casey—went to the United States Supreme Court. At Stockton, Professor Wharton leads the Political Engagement Project, which among other events geared at engaging students in politics, includes a Constitution Day series that brings nationally renowned speakers to the College. She’s also served as an advisor to two student clubs, the Women’s Rights Coalition and the Pride Alliance. When she’s not teaching, Professor Wharton enjoys film, theatre, travel and cycling. She is also passionate about women’s history and has an extensive private collection of women’s suffrage and ERA memorabilia. She is the former chair of the Board of the National Women’s History Project.
Professor Tina Zappile
Faculty Advisor, Political Engagement Living Learning Community
"Dr. Z" arrived here at Stockton in the summer of 2012. When she’s not teaching courses on international relations for the political science program, she tweets about global development policy at @tzappile, publishes research on development banks and trade agreements, and serves as Stockton’s Global Scholar for the American Democracy Project. In her spare time, she visits Philadelphia for rock shows and ethnic food (the spicier, the better), travels as much as possible- most recently to South Africa, and Mexico, in addition to 42 American states, and swims competitively with the Ocean City Swim Club.
Political Engagement LLC Course - GSS 1049, Go Global, Professor Tina Zappile
Tuesday & Thursday, 2:30PM to 4:30PM
Open only to freshmen. This is a freshman seminar.
This freshman seminar introduces students to a series of global challenges facing the world in the next 20-30 years. They include changes in population, resources, technology, information, economies, nonviolent and violent conflict, and governance. You will learn about the promise and peril of each issue and consider the dangers and benefits from your perspective and that of others, as you will be assigned a second identity from a background other than your own for the duration of the semester. In addition, you will discover opportunities to address these challenges at the local level. The underlying goal of the course is to provide you with the knowledge and tools to become a globally engaged citizen.
For more information on the Political Engagement Living Learning Community, contact Professor Linda Wharton by email at linda.wharton@stockton.edu or by phone 609-652-4716 or Professor Tina Zappile by email at tina.zappile@stockton.edu or by phone 609-626-3816.
The Sustainability Living Learning Community promotes a variety of activities in civic engagement and sustainability to first-year students at Stockton. It educates students on the need for tangible sustainable solutions through the explorations of issues involving energy conservation, healthy social systems, and public accountability of business, government, media, and the non-profit sector. Students will be challenged to define and analyze the ecological integrity, ethics, values, and moral worth of society and the campus microcosm. This community is ideal for first-year students in all areas of study who have an interest in the environment.
Professor Tait Chirenje
Faculty Advisor, Political Engagement Living Learning Community
Dr. Tait Chirenje is an environmental chemist who is currently an Associate Professor of Environmental Science and Geology. He teaches various courses including Environmental Issues, Water Chemistry, Environmental Pollution and Regulation, Environmental Issues, Environmental Toxicology, and Environmental Remediation and Biotechnology.
His research interests include (i) geochemical characterization of water bodies (lakes and rivers), (ii) Brownfields assessment and (iii) urban geochemistry. He has published extensively in the areas of trace metal and urban geochemistry and has recently worked on NJDEP grants assessing water quality in Hammonton Lake and NJDCA grants assessing brownfields in South Jersey municipalities.
Dr. Chirenje works with various campus and off-campus groups on issues relating to Sustainability and Water Quality and is currently active in the American Democracy Project. He is a member of the American Geophysical Union, the American Chemical Society and the Geological Society of America.
Professor Patrick Hossay
Faculty Advisor, Political Engagement Living Learning Community
Patrick Hossay teaches course in Environmental Politics, Sustainable Development, Municipal Environmental Policy, and International Relations. He is an Associate Professor of Political Science and the co-coordinator of the curriculum in Sustainability and Environmental Policy. He holds a PhD from the New School for Social Research, and MA in international relations from San Francisco State University, and a BS from San Jose State University’s school of engineering.
Professor Hossay has directed and advised sustainable development projects and community conservation initiatives in various communities in the Caribbean Basin. And he currently advises community and municipal sustainability projects throughout New Jersey, and leads the Stockton Campus Sustainability Initiative. He is the author of Unsustainable: A Primer for Global Environmental Justice (Zed Books, 2006).
Professor Hossay maintains a strong interest in municipal planning and sustainability, alternative energy, and green design. His own home is a model for green design, producing nearly as much energy as it uses. He lives in New Jersey horse country with his wife Sheri, a cluster of oversized dogs, and a cat with an attitude.
Sustainability LLC Course - GNM 1056, Environmental Citizenship, Professor Tait Chirenje
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 6:00PM to 7:50PM
Open only to freshmen. This is a freshman seminar. Values/ethics course (V).
This course will be taught in five parallel sessions, with occasional meetings (lectures, presentations, panels) that include all five sections. We plan to combine our knowledge of different aspects of environmental problems, and attempt to craft a comprehensive, interdisciplinary curriculum. This course will explore many dangers and environmental crises we face today. Scientific research increasingly tells us that we are destroying the natural systems on which our lives depend. Global climate change, the destruction of the Earth's ozone layer, the acidification of our rain, the poisoning of our rivers, lakes and oceans, the depletion of our soil, the devastation of our forests, globalization, environmental economics and conservation crises are some of the topics we will focus on.
For more information on the Sustainability Living Learning Community, contact Professor Tait Chirenje by email at tait.chirenje@stockton.edu or by phone at 609-652-4588 or Professor Patrick Hossay by email at patrick.hossay@stockton.edu or by phone at 609-652-4303.
Stockton’s Writing Living Learning Community provides an opportunity for first-year students interested in all types of writing to become acquainted with one another and to explore all the writing resources that are available at Stockton College.
Professor Emari DiGiorgio
Faculty Advisor, Writing Living Learning Community
Emari DiGiorgio makes a mean arugula quesadilla and has split-boarded the Tasman Glacier. She is Associate Professor of Writing at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, a New Jersey State Poet-in-the-School, and a teaching artist with Teachers and Writers. In 2012, she was named a Distinguished Teaching Artist by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and received the Governor’s Award in Arts Education.
Her poetry manuscript Bullets in Honey was a finalist for the 2010, 2011, and 2012 Crab Orchard Series in Poetry First Book Award and the 2010 Tupelo Press First Book Award. Her poems have appeared in numerous print and online journals, including Calyx, DIAGRAM, Feminist Studies, Poetry International, and Switched-on Gutenberg. She also is a recipient of a Vermont Studio Center Residency, a New Jersey State Council on the Arts Poetry Fellowship, and the Ellen LaForge Memorial Poetry Prize.
DiGiorgio has taught a monthly creative writing workshop at the South Jersey chapter of Gilda’s Club, a cancer resource center, and recently she was featured on the Dodge Poetry Foundation’s Poetry Friday Blog: http://blog.grdodge.org/2012/07/13/poetry-friday-emari-digiorgio-2012-festival-poet/.
Writing LLC Course - GAH 1627, Writing from Experience, Professor Emari DiGiorgio
Tuesday & Thursday, 10:30AM to 12:20PM
Open only to freshmen. This is a freshman seminar. Writing course (W1).
Do you enjoy reading and writing true stories? This course introduces students to the basics of writing memoir, literary journalism, and other forms of creative nonfiction. Students learn how to respond to one another’s writing in a workshop setting, developing skills as readers, writers, and critics.
For more information on the Writing Living Learning Community, contact Professor Emari DiGiorgio by email at emari.digiorgio@stockton.edu or by phone 609-626-3463.
Living Learning Community FAQs
Do students have to take the particular class associated with the LLC in order to be a part of the LLC?
Yes. Living Learning Communities contain both an academic and housing component and students are required to be in a specific course and live in a specific area. An additional benefit of applying to a LLC is completeing your Freshmen Seminar requirement or "W1" requirement (for Writing LLC) before registering for classes at Orientation.
What is the time commitment for a LLC?
LLCs are connected with a Freshmen Seminar class (a "W1" class for Writing LLC). Courses run four hours per week. Most LLCs have weekly meetings, community programs, and activities during the week connected to their course work. Some events are in the evening and others may take place on the weekend. Professors and your Resident Assistant will provide advance notice of all meetings and activities. Students can expect a total commitment of approximately 2-4 hours per week in their LLC.
Can my roommate live with me if they are not a member of the LLC?
No. Only students who have selected the same LLC are able to live together. Additionally, all LLC students must be in the specific LLC course. Students will be housed in the same residence area if they are part of the same LLC, whether or not they are roommates.
Can I select my room in an LLC?
No. Room assignments are made by the Office of Residential Life.
What are my chances of getting accepted into a LLC?
Everyone has an equal chance of getting accepted into their LLC preference; however, placement is dependent upon the availability of seats in the designated Freshmen Seminar class. Students are strongly encouraged to complete the LLC Application through the Stockton Portal when it becomes available.
Do LLCs require any work over the summer?
No. LLC residents will meet and connect with their LLC Faculty Advisor and Resident Assistant when they arrive for the Fall Semester. Additionally, your Professor may contact you over the summer to begin building relationships and to obtain information from students.
Does participation in the LLCs effect my ability to participate in S.O.A.R.?
No. Stockton Orientation Adventure Retreat (S.O.A.R.) does not conflict with the LLC commitment.
Are there any additional costs to live in an LLC?
No. LLCs are the same cost as other residence halls at Stockton.
How many students are a part of each community?
The total size of the community and the composition of the LLC will vary. Participation is limited to enhance faculty engagement with students and promote the development of collegial, professional relationship building. Opportunities to participate in hands-on activities is one of the strengths of this program.
How long does it take to receive notification or confirmation for a LLC?
Students will receive confirmation in August.
