Opening Doors Program
Learning Communities for Incoming Freshmen/ Opening Doors Learning Program
Incoming freshmen can enroll in a Learning Community that usually have three linked courses. Students study with the same cohort of students in all the linked courses.
Some of these Learning Communities have an English course, a Student Development course, and a General Education Discipline course while some other Learning Communities have two Gen. Ed. courses and a Student Development course linked together.
The English course is a composition I class. Student Development is SD 10 that helps students learn to navigate the College. The Gen. Ed. Course(s) may be a course from Art, History, Business, Biology, History, Health, Economics, Music, Philosophy, Psychology, Sociology, Speech, Theater, or others.
A special perk of this Learning Community is that the SD instructor also serves as student’s academic advisor.
Some students in ODLC may be eligible for ASAP program. To learn more, click here.
Some examples of Learning Communities for incoming freshmen are:
What Makes Life Moral?
This Learning Community links PHI 7400 (Introduction to Ethics) with ENG 12 Composition I and SD 10 (Student Development).
In this link, students will have the opportunity to write in a variety of forms as they explore, develop, and argue their own perspectives on contemporary ethical issues. While the subject of ethics will unite the three courses, our purpose in Composition I is to think strategically about the choices you make when you express yourself in writing and when you read different kinds of texts.
Law & Order: Criminal Justice in Critical Times
This Learning Community links ENG 12 (Composition I), CRJ 63(Introduction to Criminal Justice) and SD 10 (Student Development)
The goal of this Learning Community is to assist students with increasing their knowledge in the area of criminal justice and improving their writing skills by articulating their own points of views through researching topics such as Closing Rikers and Bail Reform.
A Healthy Mind and a Healthy Body
This Learning Community links BIO 11 (Human Anatomy and Physiology), PSY 11 (General Psychology) and SD 10 (Student Development)
This link is designed for students interested in pursuing a major in Allied Health with a focus on the interdependence of the mind and the body. Assignments are designed for students to make connections across all three courses and apply their learning to everyday life including but not limited to problem solving, self-care, and career planning.
Education Inequality a Historical and Sociological Exploration
This Learning Community links SOC 31(Introduction to Sociology) with HIS 50 (African American History) and SD 10 (Student Development).
In this link, students focus on the constricting patterns of stratification, culture, socialization, and institutional inequality, as it pertains to minority males and their position in the social hierarchy. Traditionally participants in this Learning Community are males (men) of color and collectively consist of a diverse and intellectually motivated cohort of students. This community is intended to make sense of the twenty first century world through the sociological/ historical lenses of the minority male experience.
To learn about continuing Learning Communities that are currently being offered or to register for a continuing Learning Community, please contact:
Samantha Sierra at Samantha.Sierra@kbcc.cuny.edu or
Paula Risolo at paula.risolo@kbcc.cuny.edu
West Academic Clusters, Room E-102
Telephone: 718-368-4903