Cole Hall

Overview

Cole Hall features a state-of-the art auditorium with the full complement of modern electronics to meet the needs of 21st century students and teachers.

The addition of a collaborative learning pod classroom (accommodating 50 students) allows students to work together in small individual teams taking on tangible problems and generating possible solutions to these problems - taking full advantage of some Internet sleuthing using online resources during collaborative problem solving.

The building is also the new home of the NIU Anthropology Museum, which had been housed in converted classroom space for decades. The new facility, designed specifically to meet the demands of the museum, provides a much better showcase for its thousands of artifacts.

Image Gallery

New Lecture Hall

The northwest auditorium (Jameson) has been revitalized and put back into service as a large, 300- 400-seat lecture hall, with modern standards including:

• Smart classroom technology
• Improved acoustics
• Reconfigured seating
• Interactive learning atmosphere

SCALE-Up Classroom

SCALE-UP stands for “Student-Centered Active Learning Environment for Undergraduate Programs.” This classroom, equipped with state-of-the-art technology, is geared toward fostering relationship-building and team cooperation during problem-solving tasks. Features include:

• Separate learning pods, seating eight students
• 65” high-definition digital touch screen for each pod
• Computer workstation with internet access for every student
• Larger screen at front of classroom, where professor can project and interact with images from each pod

Anthropology Museum

The NIU Anthropology Museum serves university students through course work and hands-on experience with all phases of museum work. It also serves the public through an active in-house and outreach educational program.

Some of the new features include:

• Humidity and temperature controls to protect and preserve the collection
• Customized spaces for exhibits, including movable rigging for suspended objects
• Lighting that can be tailored to changing exhibits

Some of the continuing features include:

• Training students in the activities of preservation, research, interpretation, and exhibition of cultural material
• Providing opportunities to experience authentic cultural materials
• Large archaeological research collection of artifacts from Illinois and the surrounding states
• Over 150,000 osteological, archaeological, and ethnographic specimens and objects