Women's Residential College (WRC)

Quick Facts

Size: 50 residents Location: Hobart House, 630 Emerson Street Master: James O'Laughlin Senior lecturer in the Writing Program and Weinberg College advisor, Weinberg College

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WRC is one of the friendliest places at Northwestern, attracting students from all six undergraduate schools and from diverse nationalities and ethnic heritages. The WRC community includes fellows from many different schools and departments who attend weekly lunches, host dinners, and provide informal advising.

WRC's student executive board plans a range of social, intellectual, cultural, and philanthropic activities. Some are practical or recreational, featuring activities such as a pancake breakfast at a local restaurant, yoga or self-defense classes, and casual talks on nutrition or jazz. Other activities take residents into Chicago to see a Shakespeare play on Navy Pier or a film at the IMAX theater, to feast on Middle Eastern food, or to visit feminist bookstores. Firesides encourage reflection and debate. Recent fireside topics include the interpretation of dreams, current cinema in India, and study abroad opportunities. WRC tutorials have addressed such topics as creative nonfiction (in a course called Writing the Female Body), and the college holds dinners with special guest speakers such as poet Vrinda Nabar, author Rosellen Brown, and journalist Alex Kotlowitz.

The most important aspect of WRC is the friendship that develops among residents in the diverse, family-like atmosphere of the college. They celebrate birthdays, listen to each other's troubles, offer advice, and invite one another home for the holidays. They go to football games, volunteer in tutoring programs, shop along Belmont Avenue in Chicago, and make time for munchies and moviegoing. WRC is located on South Campus and is a great place for expanding horizons and making special friends.

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