Department/ICR Open House

Last Friday the Dept. of Telecommunications invited potential graduate students to Bloomington to show them what we have to offer. Bloomington is...well...in the middle of the country. There isn't a beach around for HUNDREDS of miles. And there isn't a big city nearby. And so, it is sometimes a tough sell to convince people (particularly those interested in studying media, which people perceive HAPPENS on the coasts) that this would be the place to spend 2-4 years of their life in graduate school.

But, EVERYONE who comes to Bloomington (and particularly the campus) says it's beautiful and idyllic and a GREAT place to spend as much time as they can.

And then, there is the work that is done here. From wonderful production (documentaries, animations, dvds, MMPOGs), to excellent scholarship, there is not place like it.

So, that was the motivation behind the "open house."

They met the Chairman of the Department (Walter Gantz) and Director of Graduate Studies (Ted Castronova). Then, I took them on a tour of the campus which ended at the ICR. Zheng Wang and Sharon Mayell, the current ICR Managers, had the place looking great--with posters from academic conference presentations hanging on the wall, sample experiments going on, and plenty of grad students hanging around answering questions of the potential new grad students.

Then, they went to see a departmental alum-done-good: Paul Bolls, who delivered the Departmental Colloquium.

It was a great time!

Here's some pictures:

ICR Manager Sharon Welcomes People to the Open House

IU Telecomm. Alum, and T600 speaker, Paul Bolls talks with Ph.D. Candidate Narine Yeagiyan


Annie Lang, notorious for not wanting her picture taken, hides behind an umbrella with Paul Bolls and Julia Fox



Finally, the umbrella comes down.