The Commons is a collaboration between UCSB’s Office of Teaching and Learning and the Division of Humanities and Fine Arts in the College Letters and Science. The Commons fosters innovative opportunities where students can explore the integral roles that the arts and humanities can play in forging a more equitable and just future.
The Commons is supported by a generous gift by John and Jody Arnhold.
Programs and Initiatives
Our Academic Offerings
Learning
The Commons provides students with multiple gateways to thinking with and through the arts and humanities. Commons Courses offer opportunities for students to participate in hands-on, project-based learning in small, intensive environments. The Commons also supports undergraduates through Summer Courses scholarships and opportunities to engage in undergraduate research.
Teaching
The Commons invests in innovative teaching by providing support for faculty to develop cutting-edge courses that center interdisciplinarity and collaboration. Arnhold Summer Course instructors develop team-taught courses exploring issues from multiple perspectives with engaged learning approaches. Faculty also receive teaching support (TAs), course development funds, and funding for course projects and supplies.
Community
The Commons fosters a diverse, inclusive community of learners through innovative arts and humanities programming. AAHC Faculty Fellows design a two-year program of courses, events, and activities around a central theme aimed to bring students into creative discussion, doing, and making. Theater and Dance programming, along with workshops and events led by visiting artists at UCSB, offer immersive artistic experiences for students and the broader community.