Nicholls will soon offer students the opportunity to take courses that compliment each other across different curriculums in an effort to gain a different learning experience.The idea is called Learning Community, and a group of students are enrolled in various courses to work together on one common project. According to James Stewart, mass communication department head, the courses will be History 490, Government 399 and Mass Communication 370. The instructors for these three courses will collaborate with one another to keep learning objectives and projects under the same theme for common learning.

“The objective from an education standpoint is these students get to bond a little bit,” Stewart said. “They’re in the same classes and dealing with the same issues, and so they develop a sense of camaraderie.”

Stewart also said the Learning Community will enable students to look at certain issues at a deeper level. Students will be immersed in topics that deal, in some form, with all courses they are enrolled in.

“We’re trying to break down barriers in an extent,” Stewart said. “and show that things and subjects are interconnected.”

Each course is worth the normal three hours credit, with some students being able to possibly earn honors credit.

Thomas Mortillaro, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said this project could come at no better time. With admission requirements becoming heightened in 2005, Mortillaro feels that Learning Community will be a way for the University to retain students as well as recruit them.

“The primary reason for Learning Communities is that it is a great learning experience,” Mortillaro said. “They go into depth, and they get multiple views on whatever is the theme of the course.”

According to Mortillaro, a similar form of this idea is now taking place in upper level courses, but lower levels will be experiencing the idea in the upcoming fall semester.

“We wouldn’t do this if it wasn’t a good learning experience for students,” Mortillaro said. “It’s a win-win situation for all involved. I’ve talked to faculty at other institutions that do this, and they like it a lot. They really see the impact it has on students.