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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 LCRA, who is an upper-class student. The LCRA 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!
Hello everyone!
My name is Yijin Niu, you can also call me Noreen. I’m thrilled to be here as your Learning Community Research Assistant. I love writing calligraphy, playing the piano, and soaking in the smooth vibes of R&B music—it’s my absolute favorite genre!
I’m really excited about this opportunity and can’t wait to contribute my skills and enthusiasm to our community. Looking forward to working with all of you and making great things happen together!
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!
My name is Tomiris, class of 2026. I’m from Astana, Kazakhstan. At DKU, I major in Political Economy with track in Economics. I love playing piano, reading classic literature and exploring different fields. One of my biggest interests is art history and contextual analysis of art in general – be it music, painting, architecture or a poem.
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!
Hello! I’m Sofia from Mexico! I’m pursuing a degree in molecular bioscience, with a track in genetics and genomics, and I plan on graduating in 2026. I have a deep love for exploring nature, particularly enjoying visits to diverse natural places to see wildlife in their habitat.
As your Living Community Research Assistant, I’m eager to connect with you. Whether you need support, advice, or just a friendly conversation, I’m here. Together, let’s make this year not just good, but unforgettable!
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!
My name is Maxwell Bergen, and I am a junior majoring in Political Economy with a focus on
Economics. I’m from Charlotte, NC, but I went to boarding school at Cranbrook in Michigan
before I came here. In my free time, I enjoy writing poetry, traveling, and rock climbing, all of
which have thrived during my time in China. I am into all things mentally and physically
challenging and I look forward to forming a community that challenges one another.
My name is James Miller, and I am Associate Dean for Interdisciplinary Initiatives and Professor of Humanities. My understanding of wellness derives from my study of Chinese philosophy and religion and is related to the Chinese concept of fanrong 繁荣 which can be understood as flourishing of the self in relation to the community. Flourishing encompasses physical, mental, psychological, spiritual and community wellbeing, and asks us to focus on the contexts that enable such flourishing to take place. As faculty advisor to DKU’s GSRM club, I am particularly interested in supporting the wellbeing of LGBTQ+ students and in enabling all members of the DKU community to flourish together.
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.
