The Living and Learning Communities (LLCs) consist of students with art, wellness, civic engagement, and leadership interests. Each theme has its own Living Learning Community (LLC) where small groups of students live together in designated areas of the residence building and experience tailored programs in their LLCs. The LLC focuses on educational programs and our tentative events include skill-building workshops, seminars, guest-speaker lectures, off-campus excursions, and more. Each LLC has a faculty advisor helping with event organization and regularly meeting with residents for mentoring purposes.
Through the LLCs, Residence Life aspires to:
Residence Life expects LLC participants to:
The Arts Dock Living Learning Community aims to bring together students who share the passion and joy for arts. The types of art are various: visual art (photography, painting, architecture), literature (drama, poetry, creative writing), performance (theatre, music, spoken word) and cooking (blending, chocolate making) are all included in the art spectrum.
This leadership-oriented community brings together students who share interests in leadership development and personal growth. Students will work together to identify their leadership styles and abilities, learn to think critically about leadership as a subject, and cultivate a growth mindset. More importantly, students will benefit from exclusive opportunities to connect with successful leaders working across a diverse array of fields.
The Global Citizenship LLC allows you to experience and explore the diverse lifestyles, values, and institutions across the world. It connects you with the world outside of the campus and your nation, bringing you close to problems and challenges at a global level. As a community that promotes DKU’s educational philosophy of cultivating you into global citizens, it utilizes resources on and off campus to facilitate your experiences of and reflections on global citizenship.
The Wellness Crossroad Living & Learning Community offers a unique place for Duke Kunshan University students who have an interest in discovering physical, mental, and environmental wellness. This is an important initiative, as students can better learn how to engage in the active process of making choices and habits toward a healthy and fulfilling life.
The application for individual LLCs is a part of the regular room assignment application.
Only first-year students.
Yes. For more information, please refer to “Admission of Residents” of each LLC syllabus.
Each LLC has one LCA, who is an upper-class student. The LCA helps lead the community, organize regular events, and guide residents to live and learn.
Yes. Each LLC has a designated living area.
Here you can explore your interest in art, leadership development, civic engagement, or wellness and health. You will be able to participate in different events and meet people who have shared interests. LLC equips you with a smoother transition and enrich your college life.
No. We select residents from those who applied. Each LLC generally contains around 25 residents.
The tenure of your LLC membership is a whole academic year.
LLCs select applicants based on answers in the questionnaire that is attached to the room application. We will try our best to match applicants’ interest with LLCs.
LLCs provides an immersive space for you to discover and build your professional interests, which are leadership development, artistic perception, global citizen awareness, and personal wellness care. You will get exclusive opportunities to get involved in various events organized by LCAs, get access to communicate with professionals, and make friends with share-minded people.
Welcome to the Arts Dock LLC! The Arts Dock Living Learning Community aims to bring together students who share the passion and joy for arts. The types of art are various: visual art (photography, painting, architecture), literature (drama, poetry, creative writing), performance (theatre, music, spoken word) and cooking (blending, chocolate making) are all included in the art spectrum. In this LLC, we would offer all types of experiences that can help students better understand art, develop their artistic skills, and learn how to integrate art into their daily lives as a means of a creative outlet. Activities include but are not limited to field trips to galleries and museums; tailored workshops for various art forms; relevant guest speakers; fashion gala and the Art November. Furthermore, there will be a Living Community Assistant who will offer resources, support and help connect the LLC residents with each other and the faculty advisor. Click here for the LLC syllabus.
If you want the following, join the Arts Dock LLC!
I’m Siyu Wang, you can call me Sue if you like. I am a student whose intended major is Ethic and Leadership with the track of Philosophy in the class of 2025. During my spare time, film appreciating, piano playing, reading, ikebana, and photography are things I prefer to do. I am also the founder and the current president of DKU Classical Music Club, which is holding Mini-Concert for students and faculties on the regular basis. Arts Dock LLC is a community I have been always craving for and dreaming of. It is a community where all art forms gather and are celebrated in one central place. A place that allows different forms of art to blend, interact, collide and sublimate. Just talk to me about any academic interests or concerns, be they about course registration, liberal-arts exploration, major declaration, future plan, or grade anxiety. It can be in-person, via email (siyu.wang672@dukekunshan.edu.cn), or on Zoom (829 134 5958).
My name is Kaley Clements and I am from California. I am an Assistant Professor of Documentary and Digital Media Arts at DKU with expertise in documentary, filmmaking, photography, visual narratives, aural storytelling, and soundscape design. I received an MFA in Experimental and Documentary Arts from Duke University. My research focuses on where social conflict, climate change, and the loss of diversification converge under the power structures of the globalizing economy. I have produced work in Saudi Arabia, Cuba, Mexico, Vietnam, and the US.
Although the Arts Dock LLC does not admit students based on any fixed standard, we do expect our residents to be possessed some of the following characteristics. Applicants satisfying some of these descriptions will be given prioritized consideration.
Welcome to the Emerging Leaders Living Learning Community! We believe EVERYONE has leadership potential within them. This leadership-oriented community brings together students who share interests in leadership development and personal growth. Students of the Emerging Leaders LLC will work together to identify their leadership styles and abilities, learn to think critically about leadership as a subject, and cultivate a growth mindset. More importantly, students will benefit from exclusive opportunities to connect with successful leaders working across a diverse array of fields. Our activities are an organic combination of Leadership theories (such as the Social Change model) and experiential leadership practice. The form of activities includes but is not limited to workshops, guest speaker lectures, excursions, leadership retreats, and games. This community is a collaboration between Residence Life, Student Experience & Faculty Affairs. Specifically, we will have close collaboration with the Global Leadership Academy (GLA). Members of Emerging Leaders LLC will have easier access to GLA resources and opportunities for early application to GLA. All activities and experiences are designed to enhance each student’s professional skills and overall college experience, thereby empowering them to post-graduate success. Click here for the LLC syllabus.
The goals of the LLC are:
If you want the following, join the Emerging Leaders LLC!
Bonnie Liu (Director of Career Services, Duke Kunshan University, MBA, GCDF, https://www.linkedin.com/in/bonnieheliu/) welcomes students to the Emerging Leaders LLC: From Beijing and spent significant time in Rochester NY, Durham NC, Kunshan and Shanghai, Bonnie is an experienced career coach, and a passionate professional dedicated to international education and leadership development. Bonnie has over 15 years of experience across financial services, international higher education, and education start-ups between China and the U.S.
Bonnie is currently the Director of Career Services Office, where she leads a team of six covering career services to all students and alumni at Duke Kunshan University (DKU). Before coming back to DKU, Bonnie spent four years as a senior leader in two education startups, overseeing multiple functions including business development, product development, teaching management, quality assurance, etc.
Before joining the education startups, Bonnie was the founding Director of the Career Services Office at Duke Kunshan University for 4.5 years, where she started as a “one-man team” and built up a full career services function from scratch. Prior to DKU, Bonnie was Assistant Director of Career Management at the Simon Business School, University of Rochester.
Bonnie started her career in the financial services sector, she has worked at HSBC as a manager in Retail Banking and Wealth Management for more than five years.
Bonnie holds a bachelor’s degree in finance and Accounting from the Capital University of Economics and Business in Beijing, and she earned her Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from Simon Business School at the University of Rochester in the U.S.
Bonnie loves traveling and enjoys road trips very much, she is also a huge fan of tennis and figure skating.
Although the Emerging Leaders LLC does not admit students based on any fixed standard, we do expect our residents to be possessed some of the following characteristics. Applicants satisfying some of these descriptions will be given prioritized consideration.
Welcome to the Global Citizenship LLC! The Global Citizenship LLC allows you to experience and explore the diverse lifestyles, values, and institutions across the world. It connects you with the world outside of the campus and your nation, bringing you close to problems and challenges at a global level. As a community that promotes DKU’s educational philosophy of cultivating you into global citizens, it utilizes resources on and off campus to facilitate your experiences of and reflections on global citizenship.
Global Citizenship has multiple facets. It can lie in a casual conversation with a foreign friend, the sharing of your culture in the school journal to an international community, the critical reflection on the effects of globalization, a donation to children in refugee camps, or visits to museums and historical sites as products of global connection. The activities in the Global Citizenship LLC, therefore, will be a conglomeration of field trips, guest lectures, peer sharing, social events, and any other forms of activities that connects you with different people and different parts of the world. Click here for the LLC syllabus.
The goals of the LLC are:
If you want the following, join the Global Citizenship LLC!
Professor Caio Yurgel welcomes students to the Global Citizenship LLC: I have a background in Literature, Arts, Philosophy, and Creative Writing. My teaching and research are primarily concerned with literatures written in Chinese, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish, with a focus on comparative and interdisciplinary approaches. I am also an award-winning novelist and essayist, which is something I say when I want to impress people.
I have a passion for languages—not so much their sounds, but their codes. Perhaps it is not for languages I have a passion, but for code-switching: the ability of adapting yourself to different circumstances, be it talking to your parents or ordering a drink in a foreign country. When we talk about “global citizenship” we may at first think of passports, borders, and nations—rigid, bureaucratic notions. Instead, I propose we think of it as an invitation to your own reinvention, a way of understanding others and, therefore, yourself.
Although the Global Citizenship LLC does not admit students based on any fixed standard, we do expect our residents to be possessed with some of the following characters. Applicants satisfying some of these descriptions will be given prioritized consideration.
The Wellness Crossroad Living & Learning Community offers a unique place for Duke Kunshan University students who have an interest in discovering physical, mental, and environmental wellness. This is an important initiative, as students can better learn how to engage in the active process of making choices and habits toward a healthy and fulfilling life. In the Wellness community, students can achieve a deeper understanding of the benefits of working out, meditation, setting boundaries in relationships, separating school and play, and spreading love and kindness to themselves and others. Through regular LLC activities such as dinners, discussions, interactions with faculty, and guest speakers, residents will begin to explore a wellness-oriented lifestyle by exploring their relative interests and learning more about opportunities in the wellness environment. We will also offer various kinds of educational workshops, activities and field trips, from which students can develop a healthier mind of themselves and others and try to make a positive impact on the wellness environment. Office hours will also be available to discuss any problems students face in school or personally. Click here for the LLC syllabus.
The goals of the LLC are:
If you want the following, join the Wellness Crossroads LLC!
Director of Athletics Zarko Krkeljas welcomes students to the Wellness Crossroads LLC: Health and wellness are inseparable principles of my life. Personally, sports and fitness have helped me overcame challenging periods of my life. Professionally, in my role as the Athletic Director my mission is to teach, support, and inspire students to embark on their own wellness journey and build a lifelong affinity to a healthy lifestyle. Having an opportunity to live and work in Europe, Americas, Africa, and now Asia, I am inspired by the diverse ways friends and colleagues embrace wellness. My way, as cliché as it may sound, is to find new ways to connect with the outdoors whether through walking to and from work, doing various outdoor activities like hiking, sailing, or skiing, or even spending time working on the table outside of my office. Hence, I challenge all students to motivate and support each other in adopting wellness as part of their life.
Although the Wellness Crossroads LLC does not admit students based on any fixed standard, we do expect our residents to be possessed some of the following characteristics. Applicants satisfying some of these descriptions will be given prioritized consideration.