• Liberal Arts Learning Communities

    Learning Communities are groupings of two or more courses, often surrounding a common theme. There are two types of Learning Communities, Clusters (consisting of three or more classes) and Pairs (consisting of two classes).

    Learning Communities can help you:

    • Make connections among courses
    • Form a community with your classmates
    • Work closely with faculty
    • Be more successful in your courses
    • Be more likely to stay in school and graduate

    Learning Communities are strongly recommended for first-year Liberal Arts students.

    The clusters and pairs are listed below. To help you determine which themes and courses interest you most and which schedule works best for you, each includes a full description and schedule with CUNYFirst registration section codes.


  • Spring 2019 Learning Communities


    Composition I (ENG101.52880)
    The Research Paper (ENG103.52881)
    Introduction to Theatre (HUT101.54558)
    Introduction to Language (ELL101.59693)

    Time Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday 
    9:15 AM - 10:15 AM HUT101 ELL101 HUT101  ELL101  
    10:30 AM - 11:30 AM 
    		ELL101 HUT101 ENG103
    11:45 AM - 12:45 PM  ENG101 ENG103  ENG101 ENG103   
    1:00 PM - 2:00 PM  ENG101    ENG101     
    2:15 PM - 3:15 PM

    In this Cluster, students will:
    • Examine how our identities shaped by gender, race, and culture
    • Explore how we navigate and understand unfamiliar worlds
    • Question how we cross borders into new cultural or social spaces
    • Investigate what makes us feel we belong and what makes us feel excluded


    Recommended for all majors
    Composition I (ENG101.51156)
    Public Speaking (HUC106.50678)

    Time Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday 
    11:45 AM - 12:45 PM  ENG101 ENG101
    1:00 PM - 2:00 PM  ENG101 ENG101
    2:15 PM - 3:15 PM  HUC106 HUC106
    3:25 PM - 4:25 PM  HUC106

    In this Pair, students will:
    • Examine the use of voice in speech and writing
    • Learn to speak and write persuasively for varied audiences
    • Discuss how the language identities of your own background shape your identity
    • Attend a live reading


    Recommended for Health Sciences students, Biology majors, Psychology majors and all Liberal Arts majors
    Composition I (ENG101)
    General Psychology (SSY101)

    Time Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday 
    11:45 AM - 12:45 PM ENG101   ENG101  
    1:00 PM - 2:00 PM ENG101   ENG101
    2:15 PM - 3:15 PM  SSY101 SSY101
    3:25 PM - 4:25 PM  SSY101 ENG101

    In this Pair, students will:
    • Examine various theories of mind, behavior, and identity through readings, discussions and writing assignments.
    • Explore how personal identity is shape through perception, learning, memory, the environment and communication.
    • Consider how psychological practices and representations of mental health alter the ways in which people come to know themselves and their world.
    • Develop research and critical thinking skills by collecting and analyzing data.


    Recommended for all majors
    American Music (HUM210.50410)
    Writing through Literature (ENG102.54313)

    Time Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday 
    10:00 AM - 11:30 AM HUM210 HUM210
    11:45 AM - 12:45 PM  ENG102 ENG102
    1:00 PM - 2:00 PM  ENG102

    In this Pair, students will:
    • Explore connections between literature, music and American cultural identity.
    • Learn about the history of Hip Hop, Jazz, Rock and Roll, and Blues in the United States.
    • Examine drama, poetry and fiction that focuses on musical themes.
    • Participate in field trips to museums and plays.


    Recommended for all majors
    Life in the Universe (SCP105.54344)
    Writing through Literature (ENG102.50790)

    Time Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday 
    1:00 PM - 2:00 PM SCP105 ENG102  
    2:15 PM - 3:15 PM SCP105 ENG102
    3:25 PM - 4:25 PM  SCP105 ENG102

    In this Pair, students will:
    • Investigate the possibilities that life exists in the universe beyond our earth.
    • Estimate the number of groups of intelligent life forms the cosmos that may be able to communicate with us.
    • Read and creatively respond to literature that imagines the cosmos and other intelligent life in the universe.


    Recommended for all majors
    Topics in Astronomy (SCP140.54350)
    World History II (SSH106.54345)

    Time Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday 
    10:30 AM - 11:30 AM  SSH106 SCP140
    11:45 AM - 12:45 PM  SSH106 SCP140
    1:00 PM - 2:00 PM  SSH106 SCP140

    In this Pair, students will:
    • Examine the social context of the scientific revolutions in history and the social forces that surround them, beginning with the Copernican Revolution.
    • Explore how scientific paradigms emerge.
    • Link astronomy and history through exhibits at the American Museum of Natural History and The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.


    Recommended for all majors especially Business majors
    College Algebra and Trigonometry (MAT115.54557)
    Microeconomics (SSE103.54347)

    Time Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday 
    10:30 AM - 11:30 AM MAT115 MAT115
    11:45 AM - 12:45 PM  MAT115 MAT115
    1:00 PM - 2:00 PM  SSE103 SSE103

    In this Pair, students will:
    • Learn about price determination, goods distribution and market efficiency to answer such questions as “who determines the price of my iPhone?” and “Why don’t we like a monopoly?”
    • Measure the effect of government regulations on welfare through examining how rent control effects tenants, and how minimum wages impact workers, for example.
    • Learn about cost minimization, revenue and profit maximization of firms to solve such problems as how much a firm should sell to maximize profit.


    Recommended for Computer Science majors
    Introduction to Discrete Math (MAT231.50940)
    Object-Oriented Programming (MAC190.49688)

    Time Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday 
    2:15 PM – 3:15 PM MAT231 MAT231  
    3:25 PM – 4:25 PM MAT231
    4:35 PM – 5:35 PM
    5:45 PM – 6:45 PM MAC190 MAC190
    6:55 PM – 7:55 PM MAC190 MAC190

    In this Pair, students will:
    • Identify connections between mathematics and computer programming.
    • Apply mathematical concepts and models when writing computer programs.
    • Write computer programs to find solutions to mathematical problems.