A Living
Learning
Community
Incoming freshmen get a chance to
explore the arts with the Arts Incubator
T
his fall, Oak Hall is home to a new
program for freshmen to explore
the arts, no matter their major. The
program, The Arts Incubator, is a Living
Learning Community, or LLC.
An LLC is dedicated to providing supportive
learning opportunities to freshmen who live on
campus during their first year of college, which
can be the most critical and challenging year for
many students.
Freshmen in Pamplin’s Arts Incubator
benefit from exposure to artistic and creative
experiences that allow them to relax and have
fun, while honing their skills and building
valuable relationships. Students gain hands-
on experience in many areas, including print
making, music, acting, theater management, art
festival planning, and more as part of the Arts
Incubator’s programming.
Dr. Wesley Kisting, Associate Dean of the
College, directs the Arts Incubator, working
alongside faculty, the Pamplin Ambassadors,
and local organizations and community leaders
to provide this opportunity to students. The
Miller Theater, Edgar’s Grille at Helms College,
the Greater Augusta Arts Council, Metro Spirit,
and the Augusta Convention and Visitor Bureau
are some of the community organizations that
Pamplin College has teamed up with to offer
participants a rich cultural experience.
14 | #WeArePamplin · Fall 2018
“The arts express the human
condition in imaginative and
intimate ways. Therefore,
the wider the students’
range of experience, the
more opportunities they
have to explore humanity in
themselves and others.”
– Dr. William Bryant,
Instructor for the LLC’s common section of
Fundamentals of Human Communication
“When I started reaching out to area partners
to ask if they would help shape the experiences
of our first-year students, their excitement was
palpable,” Kisting said. “All were eager to deepen
their connection with the university and assist
with our educational mission.”
Kisting believes that these experiences will
give students the chance to hone their creativity
and deepen their understanding of culture,
all while having fun and building valuable
relationships with peers, faculty, administrators,
and influential artists and leaders from the
community. Forming these relationships are a
critical part of success in college.
On top of building valuable relationships
that help make the transition from high school
to college easier, the Arts Incubator will aid
students in further developing their “soft
skills” – creative thinking, teamwork, critical
thinking, and conflict resolution. All of these are
important to future employers, no matter the
field of work, and are skills that are not easily
taught in a classroom setting.
Dr. William Bryant, instructor for the LLC’s
common section of the Fundamentals of Human
Communication, noted, “The arts express the
human condition in imaginative and intimate
ways. Therefore, the wider the students’ range of
experience, the more opportunities they have to