Stonehill College, a small private Catholic college located in Easton, Massachusetts, is quietly setting trends in post-secondary education pedagogy. Stonehill encourages participation of all of its students in Learning Communities, seeking to deepen student’s learning through experiential and community-based learning.
Learning Communities are two classes, enrolling a common cohort of students, that are linked during an academic term around an interdisciplinary them. Students are exposed to a collaborative learning environment, as instructors work to plan theme-related events and activities outside the classroom, providing an engaging and interactive context for teaching and learning.
Most sophomore students at Stonehill will enroll in a Learning Community. The design of the Learning Communities is meant to emphasize critical thinking and problem solving, and often the process includes short-term travel as a means of providing hands-on learning. Examples of Learning Community offerings at Stonehill include 20th Century American Catholicism: Social and Ecclesial Developments; A European Superstate? Political and Commercial Integration in the EU; Art and Civic Culture in Urban Neighborhoods; Business and Communication in China: Changes and Challenges; Neuroscience: Mind, Body and Community; Uncovering Judaism and Nazism in Europe; From Russia with Love (and Laughter, and Madness, and Beauty, and Revolution, and Suffering). From this partial list one can sense the curiosity that is deepened and the examination analysis that must be undertaken to get to the bottom of these rather intense topics.
While many small liberal arts colleges offer a solid selection of academic and extra-curricular programs, Stonehill has set itself apart from the pack through its inventive and effective Learning Community program. As with any achievement gained during higher education, the experience gained during the experiential learning is sure to add to the promise of a successful future for the graduate.
Consider Stonehill College and check out the Learning Communities and Stonehill’s many other unique offerings today.