Life At Duke: Housing & Dining: Living Communities

Duke has a number of living communities for students with specific academic or extracurricular interests.

WELLNESS LIVING/LEARNING COMMUNITY (WLLC)

First-year students can request to live in WLLC, a residential community based on the shared goal of developing a holistic approach to health. The main focuses of the WLLC are physical fitness, nutritional health, personal expression, mental health, academic support, and community development. The WLLC is also a substance-free community, and its residents are responsible for proper management of prescription medication.

Residents of the WLLC have free access to daily yoga, dance, or martial arts classes in Brodie Gym; weekly social events in the commons room; informational seminars such as "How to Eat Healthy in the Dining Halls" or "Sleeping Healthy in College"; opportunities to participate in art competitions and have their work displayed in the residence hall; "A Day in the Life" career exploration seminars; a basketball tournament sponsored by the WLLC house council; and a yearly bus trip to somewhere fun (maybe a Charlotte Bobcats game, a nearby amusement park, or Washington D.C.).

PERFORMING ARTS COMMUNITY

The Performing Arts Community is a place for students with a shared interest in music and dramatic performance. It's intended to give students the opportunity to be an audience for performance events, to perform for their peers, and to participate in performance-related community service activities.

Any incoming first-year student may choose to live in the performing arts community—and you don't need to be a music or drama major. You just need to have an interest in the performing arts!

Life in the Performing Arts Community will include guest speakers, an activities fair, weekly events (poetry readings, performances, etc.), student art exhibits, community service opportunities, and access to arts-related events in the Triangle area.

THE FOCUS PROGRAM

The Focus Program is an interdisciplinary program in which first-year students with common intellectual interests live and learn together. Duke offers around a dozen Focus Program topics a year, and each examines a different theme. Students in a particular program are housed together within a designated residence hall along with non-Focus Program students. Experience has shown that Focus Program students develop a close-knit academic community in which they excel as scholars. In addition to a nurturing academic environment, these students have the advantage of a strong support network for their crucial first semester at Duke.