1 minute read
Learning Cluster 2021
Contributed by Nagisa Smalheiser ‘21
Would you like to take close-up pictures of distant galaxies? Do you wonder how US colleges plan to reopen after the pandemic? Ever contemplate Bigfoot’s relationship to the Kraken? Can you imagine a world without the threat of nuclear catastrophe?
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Those are some of the 27 topics students explored this year through Soka University of America’s Learning Cluster program. One of SUA’s singular features, a Learning Cluster is an intensive three-and-half-week session conducted during winter block. The courses are co-designed by students and faculty and allow a deeper examination of subjects of all kinds.
Learning Cluster is a mandatory course for first- and second-year students and an optional one for third-year students. Enrollment this year hit an all-time high, as most of the study-abroad programs that third-year students typically participate in were cancelled because of the pandemic.
In the past, some Learning Cluster courses have included opportunities to travel around the country and world to conduct research. But as SUA headed into its third semester of mostly online instruction, the experience had to be reinvented. Professors found creative ways to keep their students engaged, including watching films and videos together or inviting guest speakers to offer their perspectives. One professor asked a student who’s studying Japanese American identity to lead a discussion about language and identity. Another introduced students to gather.town, an online platform where they created avatars and interacted virtually.
