Public Affairs Living-Learning Community

Welcome to the web site of the Social Science & Public Affairs Living-Learning Community! This is one of Florida State University's living and learning communities. This community attracts students who are interested in understanding and impacting society at the local, state, national, and global levels. Its goal is to allow these students to advance their interests in this area, complementing the educational mission of FSU with special courses and frequent events and activities that are open only to members of the Community.

Click on the radio above to listen to a story that ran on March 28, 2008 on WFSU-FM about FSU's living-learning communities, with a focus on the Social Science & Public Affairs Living-Learning Community.

DeGraff Hall

The Social Science & Public Affairs Living-Learning Community is located in conveniently located DeGraff Hall, which just opened in Fall 2007

About the Community

Description

The Social Science & Public Affairs Living-Learning Community, like all of FSU's living-learning communities, offers students a number of advantages. Residents benefit from the resources of a large university (world-renowned faculty, a variety of course offerings in more than one hundred departments and other academic programs, academic and cultural activities almost every night, and a large and diverse student body), while also enjoying the benefits of a small college (close contact with a small community of students, small class sizes, and regular interaction with university faculty and staff). The Community is committed to providing a comfortable environment that promotes and supports the educational mission of the University. This program is intended for students with an interest in the social sciences, and draws from the rich resources of the University and the Tallahassee community for a unique learning environment. The central mission of this learning community is to educate students for citizenship in the community, state, nation, and world. In order to fulfill this mission, the Social Science & Public Affairs Living-Learning Community has three central components, which together offer program participants frequent opportunities to experience and discuss major political events and to become better citizens:

1. The Community

First, the members of this community all applied specifically because of their shared interest. Program participants thus experience the benefits of living in a close-knit, supportive community of people with similar interests. This helps to create an environment in which new students can get to know other people who are interested in public and international affairs, get to know FSU faculty from social science departments, and become involved in activities pertaining to issues that overlap with the concerns of FSU's social science departments (Economics, Geography, Political Science, Public Administration, Sociology, and Urban & Regional Planning) as well as intellectually related disciplines such as Anthropology, Business, Communications, History, Law, and Psychology.

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Living-Learning Community Students in the DeGraff Hall Lounge

2. Coursework

The second component revolves around a one credit hour colloquium that all Community residents are required to take in both the fall and spring semesters. Because it is limited to residents in the Social Science & Public Affairs Living-Learning Community, this seminar extends the sense of community within the program, by bringing the students together in the classroom as well as in their daily interactions in the residence hall. More details about this course are available on this web site's Courses page.

Students in the Community also are required to take one of the one-semester in-house seminars that different social science departments offer during the Fall semester in a classroom in the residence hall. These courses help build the sense of community among participants, as well as providing a smaller class size and more personalized learning environment than is found in most classes open to first-year students. More details and course listings for these courses are available on this web site's Courses page.

3. Events and Activities

Finally, special events and activities related to the social sciences and public affairs are scheduled for program participants, such as presentations by FSU scholars and local or state political figures, and discussions of current events with local experts. For example, FSU has a number of experts in American politics, elections, and international conflict who have given talks on current events related to their expertise, and we have hosted talks by several government officials as well. Recent years have also seen presentations on some of the many opportunities available at FSU for students interested in the social sciences. See the Events & Activities page for examples of some of the events that the Community has hosted in past years.

History

FSU opened its first living and learning community, the Bryan Hall Living-Learning Community, in 1997. The second such program, the Public Affairs Living-Learning Community, opened in August 1999. When the community began, it was located in Broward Hall and directed by Dr. Bob Crew, a professor in FSU's Political Science department. The program originally focused around the Broward Hall seminar, a one-semester course on important issues in public and international affairs that was required for all students in the program. Dr. Paul Hensel, another professor in the Political Science department, took over as director of the program in August 2003. Under Dr. Hensel, the seminar expanded to two semesters, with one covering international affairs and one covering domestic public affairs. The program also began to feature special events and activities for its participants, ranging from activities on policy-related issues and current events (such as presentations by scholars and political figures) to events that explored students' scholastic and career opportunities at and beyond FSU (such as presentations on FSU's study abroad programs, possible majors in the social sciences, and possible careers related to policy, government, and law).

In Fall 2006, the Public Affairs Living-Learning Community expanded its scope to cover the range of social sciences and became the Social Science & Public Affairs Living-Learning Community and moved to Cawthon Hall, which it shared with FSU's Music and Education communities. Also, in Fall 2006 Dr. Phil Steinberg of FSU's Geography department replaced Dr. Hensel as Director. The move to Cawthon Hall was accompanied by a reduction in the Community's size, from 132 to 70 members, and a change in the admissions criteria so as to give greater priority to students who declare majors in the social sciences. 2006 also saw the addition of a requirement that each student take at least one of the four in-house courses taught each year inside the residence halls by departments in the College of Social Sciences (Economics, Geography, Political Science, and Sociology). These courses help residents meet graduation requirements, while adding to the sense of community and enhancing students' education through small classes.

In Fall 2007, the Community moved again, to DeGraff Hall, a brand new residence hall built on the site of the original DeGraff Hall, which was constructed in 1950. Also, the Community was reduced in size again, to 38 students. Although the new DeGraff Hall houses over 700 students, the Living-Learning Community is in its own wing. Also, unlike most Living-Learning Communities, with the move into DeGraff members of the Social Science & Public Affairs Living-Learning Community became exempted from the requirement that they purchase an FSU meal plan.

No major changes are planned for Fall 2008, except that, in response to the reduced size of the living-learning community, there will no longer be in-house courses offered in the Spring (beginning Spring 2009). Community residents will all be required to take one of two in-house courses offered in the Fall semester.

About this Web Site

Site Index

This web site includes ten pages with information about the program for current or prospective participants. Each of these pages can be accessed from the navigation sidebar, located on the left side of the screen at the top of each page:

Home Page: This page. A description of the Social Science & Public Affairs Living-Learning Community, including a summary of its mission and its major components, as well as an index to the web site.
Admissions: Information on applying for admission to the Community.
Contact Us: Contact information and brief biographies for faculty and staff associated with the Community.
Courses: A list of all courses associated with the Community, including both the colloquium that all residents are required to take and the smaller in-house courses that are offered each semester.
- Previous in-house courses: A list of courses offered in past years.
Events and Activities: An introduction to the many events and activities that are associated with the Community.
- Past years: an archive of events from past years.
FAQs: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about the Community, including sections aimed at both potential applicants and current participants.
Public Affairs Resources: A compilation of useful online resources related to public and international affairs, ranging from departments in FSU's College of Social Sciences to web sites on local, state, national, and international affairs.

Social Science & Public Affairs Living-Learning Community College of Social Sciences Florida State University