American University
ER-T2-4: Themed Housing

“Sustainable Earth” was a campus living and learning community offered through American University’s University College program from 2009 - 2013, in which a group of students takes a common course on sustainability and live together on the same residence hall floor. Academic topics for these courses change from year to year, so the Sustainable Earth section was rotated out after four years and replaced with a section on Public Health. After a year hiatus, the Sustainable Earth section will rotate back into the program in Fall 2014. Additionally, a sustainability cluster interest group inhabited a floor in McDowell Hall from 2010-2013. These Residential Community Clusters (RCCs) are based on student interest and students must apply to create their own section each academic year. Each section is based on a residential education pillar and is supported by a faculty adviser recruited by the interested students. A sample proposal for a sustainability cluster is provided on the RCC website (http://www.american.edu/ocl/housing/rcc.cfm) as a reference for students applying for academic year 2014-15 clusters in the Spring 2014 semester (proposals are due the spring before the beginning of the new academic year). Additional living-learning communities present in the 2013-14 academic year that include a sustainability-related component include the Public Health Scholars program, Social Justice Living Learning Community, and the Health and Wellness Living Learning Community. More information about the various kinds of living-learning communities available at American University can be found at http://www.american.edu/ocl/housing/llc.cfm.

Students are only enrolled in the Sustainable Earth UC for the fall semester, but in the spring these same students take on a sustainability project. The number of residents in themed housing is for the Fall 2012 section of Sustainable Earth.