If you’ve been around Pearson Hall within the last year, you know that there has been quite a bit of renovation on the second floor. Walls knocked down and replaced, ceiling tiles removed and only partially replaced (we’ve become one of those trendy places with exposed brick and vaulted ceilings. Really.), flooring updated and classrooms getting facelifts. The project has spanned almost a full year, and WLC looks forward to the final product! We’ve watched the second floor go from a space that holds individual offices and a few closed-off classrooms to one of several accessible spaces that invite innovation and learning.
One of these new spaces will be a new common area for students on the second floor. The space is designed to feel open and conducive to creativity and collaboration. The area was created by knocking down two walls and and the movement of a third- the space was previously comprised of a classroom, a two-person office, and one side of our lecturers’ space. As seen in the floor plan (right), the room will be host to a laptop bar, tables and booth-esque seating and an area for teacher-student discussion. The space will be one we’ll be sure to appreciate time and time again.
Another of the new spaces will be on the third floor of Pearson, the new WLC Creative Studio in 3228B. (Not to worry, our Ambassadors have been displaced to 3228A, not eliminated.) This space will be utilized for video, audio, and photography created by and for World Languages and Cultures faculty, staff and students. It will include a acoustic correction, an HDR camera, a permanent backdrop fixture, audio and lighting equipment, and more! In the past, content created for WLC has been pieced together using portable backdrops and mics, but we will now be able to have a space in which to create just for you! In the future, we hope to be able to integrate this fabulous new space into coursework as well as to provide tutorials to students and faculty on how to use the space. Coming soon, so keep an eye on our Facebook, Instagram (see image of soundproofing LEFT), Twitter and Snapchat (@wlc.isu) for updates!
Our second-to-last bit of excitement lies in the newly renovated classrooms on the second floor of Pearson Hall. These spaces will allow Pearson Hall to host larger classes (some classrooms will hold up to 75 students), more World Film Studies courses, as well as seating for active learning.
Finally, we are so very excited to welcome our colleagues in Anthropology to Pearson as they move from Curtiss Hall. While this may not seem like a huge feat, this move has included everything from boxing up books and moving files to carrying taxidermied monkeys and other specimens (yes, you read that correctly) with protective gloves on. There’ll be new furniture, new display cases, and very old bones housed in the new spaces. We hope you’ll take the chance to explore this new space along with the well over 70 WLC employees who are now located here in Pearson.
While Pearson has always been home to tons of classroom space for students, we in WLC expect it will be more than a building for classrooms- we want to see students here, utilizing the spaces and making WLC the place where they feel most comfortable and productive on campus. When students return in the Fall, we’ll be ready to say “Welcome home.”