many national flags hung outside ILC

International Learning Community

How to Join

  1. Sign your University Residence Halls contract and submit your advance payment in My UW Housing
  2. Select the International Learning Community as your top choice when you submit your hall preferences in My UW Housing
  3. Prioritize learning communities over residence halls when you submit your hall preferences in My UW Housing
  4. Receive your room assignment

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What is awesome about living in the ILC is that I get to meet so many students interested in other languages and cultures. No matter what our differences are, I can always be certain that we can relate on that aspect.

Devin J., ILC Resident

Seminar

ILC residents celebrating their Spring Festival

General ILC Seminars: International Studies 110 | 1 Credit
Language Community Seminars: International Studies 210 | 1 Credit

ILC residents are able to take one-credit, non-graded seminars that bring faculty fellows and students together for one hour twice per month to explore and discuss a wide variety of international and cultural topics. These small discussion courses are held in classroom spaces in or near Kronshage Residence Hall. In many cases, faculty and students work together to plan discussions and activities. Previous discussions have been centered on films, religion, current affairs, dialects, art, and contemporary issues.

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Community Goals

  • Meet peers from all over the world
  • Build knowledge about other cultures
  • Seek out and explore cultural values of widely divergent belief systems
  • Develop the knowledge and skills needed to become a global citizen

We have many students who choose to live with us who are planning to study abroad, returning from study abroad, or are wanting an international experience but unable to go abroad during their college careers.

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Events & Activities

Each year, the ILC offers events and activities that allow residents to build relationships within their community, explore world cultures, study languages, connect with experts and scholars, travel outside of Madison, and have fun. Some of the ILC’s yearly Signature events include:

  • Opportunity to receive a $500 research award to work for an entire semester with UW-Madison faculty
  • Convocation
  • International Division events:  study abroad, intern abroad information sessions
  • Community-wide celebrations of cultural events hosted by Language Communities
  • Roundtable Dinners (two times per month)
  • End of semester and end of year community socials
  • Winter shopping trips

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Language Communities

The ILC supports language study by offering dedicated language programming in Arabic, Chinese, Korean, German, Japanese, Nordic (Danish, Norwegian, Swedish), Russian, and Spanish. These programs offer regular opportunities to speak the target languages in both social and classroom settings, making them ideal for students planning to study abroad, seeking to maintain their fluency after studying abroad, or for anyone simply looking to improve their language skills.

Learn More About Language Communities

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ILC Professional Staff

Magpie Mauthe

Position title: Residence Life Program Manager

Chaz Schwandt

Position title: Residence Life Coordinator

ILC Faculty Fellows

Jaerin Ahn

Position title: Faculty Director of Korean House

Charo D'Etcheverry

Position title: Faculty Director of ILC
Professor of Classical Japanese Literature

Karen Evans-Romaine

Position title: Faculty Director of Russian House

Julie Larson

Position title: Faculty Director of German House

Scott Mellor

Position title: Faculty Director of Nordic House (ILC)
Faculty Fellow of Scandinavian Studies (BLC)

Mustafa Mustafa

Position title: Faculty Director of Arabic House

Yuki Shimizu

Position title: Faculty Director of Japanese House

Catherine Stafford

Position title: Faculty Director of Spanish House

Tianlu Zhang

Position title: Faculty Director of Chinese House