FREE Learning Community

How to Participate in FREE

There are two main ways to participate in FREE. The simplest is to join FREE events, which include interdisciplinary activities like performance art, lectures, student presentations, and interactive displays.

The second option involves committing to the year-long learning community process, which includes about five meetings: three for planning, one or more for events, and a final debrief. Faculty form interdisciplinary groups from class schedules, plan a theme, and integrate related content into courses. On a designated event day, students and faculty together present findings and assess outcomes.

For more information, please contact us.

Meeting Dates for FREE

Any faculty, staff, or student is welcome to join FREE meetings, as we are an interdisciplinary learning community focused on uniting the campus around the year's big-picture theme.

Meetings are hybrid and held from 3:30–5 p.m. on the last Tuesday of each month, either in RDMT 255 or via Zoom.

Three Core Principles of FREE

1. Revolution from Within: Interdisciplinary “Big Idea” Theme Within the Existing Class Schedule
   FREE events align with the existing class schedule, bringing together interdisciplinary "cells" of three or more classes around a single "big idea" theme. If multiple cells form in a semester, they coordinate their culminating student events in the same week. Each event involves 75–200 students, with professors introducing the theme in their classes beforehand. Faculty collaborate throughout the year, sharing insights and fostering a learning community that encourages educational risk-taking and intellectual empowerment.

2. Diverse Student Participation: Active Student Learning Community and Presentations
   Students engage with interdisciplinary learning through pre-event activities and the large culminating event. Teams present their findings in various formats—visual, verbal, mathematical, or performance—within a 5–7 minute, 5–7 slide framework. Faculty then facilitate holistic assessment, encouraging interdisciplinary evaluation and creativity.

3. Interdisciplinary Assessment Display
   FREE culminates in a collaborative, interdisciplinary assessment display, such as a mural, performance, or other creative output. This process emphasizes discovery, collaboration, and critical thinking breakthroughs, often involving STEAM approaches and incorporating globalization and multicultural elements.

History of FREE

FREE began in 2003 at TMCC in Reno, Nevada, inspired by education professor Micaela Rubalcava after reading Henry Giroux’s Public Spaces, Private Lives (2001), which advocates for democratic participation through public education. Rubalcava saw the potential of using the existing class schedule, much like a flash mob, to ensure strong student participation in interdisciplinary “big ideas.” Unlike poorly attended panels, the FREE model guarantees student involvement by having professors bring their students to the culminating events during class time.

Organic and Evolving

Originally, FREE involved a small group of professors giving lectures to their combined classes in 2003. It soon evolved into a student-centered model, where students present their findings and collaborate before the culminating event. FREE continues to adapt, recently incorporating more student-driven themes.

Over the years, FREE has explored themes such as: