The community consists of first-year undergraduate students who are pursuing a range of majors across the campus. In their first year here at UMD, they live together in a wing of a residence hall, take some coursework together, and participate in a variety of co-curricular events, such as conversation hours, cooking together, celebrating holidays from across the globe, calligraphy writing, and more.
WLC faculty members were inspired to create the WLC LLC by the community-building they saw amongst current WLC students as well as by the innovative opportunity to link language learning and creative thinking with Cultural Entrepreneurship classes.
Dr. Jennifer Brady explained, “In our classes, we seek to facilitate meaningful interactions in our global languages. Learning a new language is a journey, and in order for all students to reach their proficiency goals, we recognize the need to create safe spaces where students can learn together, make mistakes, ask questions, and share curiosities. The strong communities inside our classrooms drove us to consider how we can grow our communities of language learners outside of the classroom walls…in their dorms, at extracurricular events, at social activities, etc.”
Dr. Kristen Hylenski, director of the WLC LLC, elaborated, “UMD’s mission statement states that we prepare students to be lifelong learners and globally engaged citizens. But what does it mean to be a globally engaged citizen? According to many definitions, including the U.S. Department of Education, people who are globally and culturally competent are ‘proficient in at least two languages’; ‘aware of the differences that exist between cultures’; ‘critical and creative thinkers, who can apply understanding . . . to work effectively in cross-cultural settings’; and ‘able to operate at a professional level in intercultural and international contexts’ (“Global and Cultural Competency”). We wanted to create a community that would help students build a foundation towards becoming globally competent.”
With that goal, the LLC is not exclusive to students majoring or minoring in world languages - openness and curiosity are the only prerequisites. Required coursework taken together over the year includes a language class of their choice, a special section of UST 1000: Learning in Community (recently taught by Instructor Andrew Snustad), LANG 1000: World Cultures, Cinema and Cuisine (recently taught by Dr. Maureen Tobin Stanley), and CUE: 1001: Culture Industry and Creative Economy, which deals with the global creative economy. Students also have plenty of room in their schedule to pursue other courses for their major.
The department has already noted many successes. Hylenski reflected, “This first year has surpassed our expectations! One of our goals was to ease social transition to the university: to connect students to each other, to faculty, to UMD, and to the community of Duluth. Another one of our goals was to increase peer interactions related to academics in informal settings. It’s been gratifying to see how this group has formed a community and how in-class learning is deepened through living together and continuing conversations outside of class.”
Student surveys also show a positive response to the LLC. According to research done by the community’s resident advisor, Molly Williams (Spanish and International Studies ‘25),
- 80% of WLC LLC participants stated they plan to continue studying their world language at UMD.
- 90% of WLC LLC participants stated that faculty and staff in the WLC LLC support their academic success outside of the classroom.
- 94% agreed that our orientation helped ease their social transition to UMD.
- 94% agreed that the WLC LLC has given them the opportunity to learn about and/or interact with people who are different than they are.
Williams is completing the research and assessment on the community as part of her honors project and an independent study she was completing with Dr. Brady in the fall through her Spanish Studies major. Williams explained, “Since we were both heavily involved in the community, it seemed like the natural next step to collect data on its success and areas to improve. It was a great way for me to improve my language abilities by discussing and writing about the research in Spanish. We have some
incredible findings, and I’m excited to see the positive effects the community has on this first group of residents going forward.”
In reflecting on her time with the LLC, Williams asserted, “Without hesitation, the greatest success of the WLC LLC is the community the residents have built. When they all got to move in early and had time to get to know each other, it was fun to see how instantly they connected and how those connections have continued through the year. Those who are a part of the LLC will be able to continue to seek out and create community in other aspects of their lives. Whether that be through school or work, they have developed positive social, academic, and leadership skills that will take them far.”
When considering future goals for the WLC LLC, Hylenski noted that in addition to securing sustainable funding, the biggest challenge has been getting the word out to recruit interested students. However, WLC hopes “to develop relationships among different WLC LLC cohorts, which includes perhaps adding a peer mentor opportunity so that the younger cohorts can connect with the previous cohorts, learn from each other, and eventually have a network of WLC LLC alumni.”
Works Cited
“Global and Cultural Competency.” International Affairs Office: U.S. Department of Education, https://sites.ed.gov/international/global-and-cultural-competency/. Accessed 1 Mar. 2023