In The Loop - Academic Program
Lake Forest College In The Loop offers a wide-ranging, flexible, yet focused academic program featuring internships, courses taught by Lake Forest faculty, and courses at either Roosevelt University or Columbia College Chicago.
The academic program is a full-semester, four-credit curriculum. Students may design their four credits in several ways, including internships, courses taught by Lake Forest College faculty (the Interdisciplinary Concentration), cross-registration for courses at Roosevelt University or Columbia College Chicago, and independent study (for example, senior thesis). Students may even commute to Lake Forest to take courses on campus.
I. Internships. Given the experiential/immersion nature of the program, all students are required to complete a two-credit internship in the city or adjoining suburbs.
II. Interdisciplinary Concentration (IC). A signature component of the academic program is an interdisciplinary concentration (IC): a set of two courses focused on a specific interdisciplinary area that focuses on Chicago.
For Fall 2012, the concentration is Urban Studies. Professor Holly Swyers (Sociology and Anthropology) will teach a seminar, “City, Space, and Place.” This course focuses on the anthropology and sociology of the urban experience. “City, Space, and Place” will familiarize students with theoretical frameworks used in the study of social structures and processes, cultural systems and practices, and the role of the city in the organization and production of human experiences, particularly during the last two centuries. The city of Chicago will be our field site, and the course will include regular fieldwork to explore concepts presented in class texts. We will occasionally partner with the urban politics class to develop larger Chicago-based projects.
Professor Carrie Nordlund (Politics) will teach a seminar, “Urban Politics.” This course will be an exciting way to examine urban politics up close. Chicago’s new mayor, Rahm Emmanuel, has shaken up the city’s political scene. Or has he? The course investigates Emmanuel’s policies and practices for governing the country’s third largest city will be investigated. Among other aspects of city politics, we will study public housing, education, sports stadiums, urban riots and renewal, and coalition building between the African American and Latino communities.
For Spring 2013, the concentration is “Chicago in Global Context.” Professors David George and Rand Smith will teach a seminar, “Chicago: Global City/City of Neighborhoods.” This course examines Chicago as both a global and a “local” city. On the one hand, the city is involved in manufacturing, trade, and services on a worldwide basis. On the other hand, Chicago is a city of neighborhoods, often based on strong ethnic and racial identities. Students will study the city’s dual quality by assessing the interconnections between the world economy and the daily life of Chicagoans. A key connection is immigration, which will be explored from the standpoint of several important communities, including Hispanics/Latinos, African-Americans, Eastern Europeans, and Asians. The course will take both an historical and contemporary approach, as students analyze how the city developed economically, politically, and culturally since the late 19th century, as well as how the city is adjusting today in an age of globalization.
Professor Jill Terzakis will teach a seminar, “Real Estate Finance.” This course examines the fundamental concepts, principles, and analytical methods involved in debt financing of residential and commercial real estate. Through lectures, readings, problem sets, casework, presentations and exams, students will develop and demonstrate their understanding of the process of underwriting and financing residential and commercial properties. Mortgage financing for the purpose of homeownership will lead to a focus on income-producing properties for the purpose of investment. Both the perspectives of the borrower as well as of the lender will be considered. Present value calculations and capitalization rates will be emphasized. The role of real estate capital markets will be introduced. Prerequisite: Finance 237.
III. Cross-registered courses at Roosevelt University or Columbia College Chicago. Under this option, students may take two courses at either Roosevelt University or Columbia College Chicago, not both. Courses students take at Roosevelt University or Columbia College Chicago must support their academic programs, be unavailable at Lake Forest College, and be approved by their academic advisors.
