Concordia is home to three Living Learning Communities (LLCs) in the Upper Quads: Bella Amore, Creative Edge and Polis Plaza. With housing applications open, now is the time to get to know these communities and decide where to live next year. The Courier interviewed the three Faculty in Residence Professors of the Living Learning Communities to get to know their communities better.

Bella Amore, located in Chi Omicron, is a women’s only LLC. The Faculty in Residence is Dr. Kristen Koenig, a Sociology professor. Koenig said, “Bella Amore is a unique and meaningful place for women to live and grow. It is a space where community is built intentionally and where women are supported as they navigate their faith, relationships and vocational callings. This work may seem ordinary, but it is deeply significant. It has been life-changing not only for residents, but for my family as well, as we have formed lasting relationships that continue beyond their time in the LLC.”

Koenig noted the importance of community in Bella Amore. She said, “I love living among the women at Bella Amore and getting to know them in their day-to-day lives. What I value most is being part of those seemingly ‘ordinary’ moments, like shared meals, conversations and time together, which are actually where the most meaningful growth happens. It is in this everyday life that relationships are formed and where I see vocation and community lived out in a powerful way.”

Bella Amore hosts a variety of events throughout the year. Koenig said, “We host gatherings like Taco Talks, charcuterie nights, and sweet talks that create space for both connection and meaningful conversation. These events reflect the heart of Bella by bringing women together in ways that feel natural and relational. Taco Talks and charcuterie nights are favorites because they foster both community and thoughtful discussion in a relaxed setting.”

Creative Edge is headed by Music professor Dr. Christian Hauser. He said, “At Creative Edge, we are a community who appreciate all of the arts, regardless of how artistic we think we are. Bring your outside of the box thinking as we dance, act, create, play games, paint and make music.” 

Creative Edge provides unique opportunities to both appreciate creativity and express it. Hauser recalled, “During a previous event we asked Professor Sara Fletcher to come in and talk about Jackson Pollock, the painter who grabs a brush with paint and flings it on a canvas. We listened to a mini lecture about his work and then we covered the entire dorm courtyard in tarps, canvases and had some stations with wood chairs…we had students take their turn in flinging paint at them…That was a really fun event.” Those green and gold speckled chairs are perched just outside of the Creative Edge Common Room, where anyone walking by can see firsthand the creativity that drives the community. 

Besides designated events to foster creativity, the Common Room of Creative Edge is also home to a number of instruments including a piano and a vast collection of board games, which students can use at any time. Hauser said, “If you’re interested in playing games, appreciate the arts or want to learn a new instrument…come to the Creative Edge!”

This is the fourth year that Hauser has been the Faculty in Residence at Creative Edge. He shared that his favorite part of the role is “being that mentor role for students and getting to know them personally.” He added, “To help facilitate that, we sometimes host early morning coffee and donuts, and students just come and talk. That’s a real chance to develop relationships with students and petition prayer requests.”

Creative Edge also incorporates trips as a part of their community, sometimes in collaboration with Polis Plaza. Hauser said that past trips have gone to see the Getty Museum, Getty Villa and the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library (where students viewed the Dead Sea Scrolls). Hauser added, “I’m hoping we can go to the Huntington Gardens next term.”

Dr. Bryan Santin, English and History professor, leads Polis Plaza. He said, “Polis Plaza comes from the ancient Greek word ‘polis’ which is the word for city state, so we think of it as a community really geared around politics, faith, pop culture, trying to think about what would prepare students to live in the real world. Usually when people say the ‘real world’ they are talking about business, money, etc, but we’re thinking of the real world in the larger sense of, what does it mean to live in a political community, at the local level of a city, at the larger level of state or nation state, or even the world? What does it mean to live in these kinds of political communities and how can we think and talk about that as part of our LLC? We think of this as civil discourse or civil dialogue.”

Santin also noted the importance of community within the LLCs. He said, “I have a phrase that I call ‘glancing encounters’ where I just kind of run into people, often students, but even the other faculty. You run into people and a lot can happen in those five minute encounters… seeing people regularly walking too and from the dorms you strike up a lot of really interesting conversations which is something you don’t get if you’re faculty and just come into the building, teach, leave and drive home.”

Polis Plaza emphasizes open dialogue and important conversations. Santin said, “We have a recurring event we host every two weeks called Agora 360 dialogues, and choose a topic that’s usually in the news that's controversial…The goal is not to say what you believe, the goal is to understand and kind of ventriloquise different positions, and to kind of gain experience talking to people in those ways.”

He added, “I think there’s an apprehension, a kind of nervousness, around talking about important topics: political topics, religious topics, those kinds of things, and I think our LLC is designed to help students talk about those things in a healthy and productive way.”

The sense of community within the LLCs drives it as an integral part of Concordia campus life, cultivating friendships and conversations. Interested in applying to live in one of the LLCs next year? Apply for an LLC as part of the housing application. Housing selection will take place the week of April 6. For questions about housing, email res@cui.edu.

Tags: Dorms

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