Heavy rains have slowed progress on the resurfacing of Castle Drive. That work is now tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 14. The road will remain open, but heavy construction equipment will extremely limit access. NIU faculty, staff and students are strongly encouraged to avoid using Castle Drive if possible.
The David C. Shapiro Memorial Law Library has announced its hours for the fall semester.
Fall hours begin Monday, Aug. 20. The library is open from 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Fridays, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays and from noon to 11:30 p.m. Sundays.
Exceptions include Labor Day weekend (from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 1, from 2 to 8 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 2, and from 2 to 10 p.m. Monday, Sept. 3.) and the Thanksgiving
recess (open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 21, from noon to 11:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 25, and closed in between).
The extended scheduled for final exams week begins Saturday, Dec. 1.
Call (815) 753-0505 for more information.
The Christian Faculty and Staff Prayer Luncheon is scheduled for noon Tuesday, Aug. 21, in the East Room of the Blackhawk Cafeteria.
Participants may bring a lunch or purchase one there. All are welcome.
Media Services is offering training on using the audiovisual equipment in Provost-sponsored SMART classrooms. New equipment was installed in many classrooms this summer, and there are major changes in how the equipment is operated.
Both new and returning instructors should benefit from these brief seminars in DuSable Hall 348:
These seminars are open-ended and run continually; guests will miss nothing no matter what time they arrive. The program takes approximately an hour.
Those who cannot attend one of the above sessions can call SMART classroom trainers to arrange convenient times. Once the semester begins, it will become difficult to schedule weekday training sessions because the rooms are in near-constant use.
Contact Jim Bollenbach at (815) 753-6677 or via e-mail at jbollenbach@niu.edu for more information.
Thousands of new and returning students will arrive on campus Thursday, Aug. 23. More than 100 faculty and staff have signed on to welcome students and demonstrate the caring attitude that is the spirit of NIU.
However, still more volunteers are needed to drive golf carts full of student belongings to the residence halls on Opening Day (Aug. 23); to take part in Huskies Helping Huskies, manning kiosks to give directions on the first days of class (Aug. 27 and 28); and House Calls (Aug. 28), in which faculty and staff visit students in their residence hall rooms and extend a warm welcome to NIU.
If you haven’t done so, please visit Housing and Dining’s new Web site and follow the links to volunteer for one, two or all three events. Show our new and returning students how much they matter to you. Your help is truly appreciated.
Also, check out the Opening Day Web page at housing.niu.edu, and view volunteers from past Opening Days.
The computer monitors in the Provost-sponsored general purpose SMART classrooms throughout campus have been replaced with new interactive monitors.
These new touch screens enable software to be activated by using a stylus instead of a computer mouse. The stylus also can annotate and highlight over anything displayed on the computer monitor in a variety of ways.
Media Services is offering introductory training on the use of these interactive displays. SMART Technologies representatives will demonstrate the hardware and introduce the accompanying software from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. and from 1 to 2 p.m. Friday, Aug. 24, in Cole Hall 101.
Contact Jim Bollenbach at (815) 753-6677 or via e-mail at jbollenbach@niu.edu for more information.
NIU’s Community Dance School, sponsored by the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education, begins its 12-week fall session Monday, Sept.10.
Classes taught include creative movement, ballet, tap, Irish step dancing, jazz/hip-hop and ballroom/Latin/swing. Adult classes in ballet and tap also are being offered.
Registration takes place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 25, and from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 26, in Anderson Hall studio 130. The cost of the session is $95.
For more information, call Diane Rimmer at (815) 756-4092 or Outreach Services at (815) 753-0277.
NIU’s Art Museum will host “Some Enchanted Evening: 100 Years of Evening Gowns (1900-1999)” in its Rotunda Gallery from Tuesday, Aug. 28, through Saturday, Oct. 13.
The public is invited to an opening reception from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 30. Collector Barbara Cole Peters will speak briefly about the exhibit at 5:15 p.m., and again
at 6 p.m., during the reception.
“Some Enchanted Evening: 100 Years of Evening Gowns (1900-1999)” includes nearly 30 evening gowns from the private collection of Peters. The garments, created by anonymous dressmakers and famous designers, are presented with contemporary newspaper text alongside written commentary by Peters that examines cultural developments decade by decade.
Richly adorned with embroidery, appliqué, sequins and intricate beading, these garments speak to the artistry of fashion design and serve as an ornate and visceral historical timeline reflecting the 20th century’s changing notions of beauty, elegance, romance and fantasy.
The exhibition also features 20th century dance music and a brief journey though social dance. Additional vignettes display the influences of psychedelic design, Orientalism and the Ballets Russes on garment design.
The NIU Art Museum’s Rotunda Gallery is located on the west end of the first floor of Altgeld Hall. The gallery is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday and by appointment for group tours.
Exhibitions are always free. The exhibitions of the NIU Art Museum are funded in part by the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, the Friends of the NIU Art Museum and the
Arts Fund 21.
For more information, visit www.vpa.niu.edu/museum or call (815) 753-1936.
NIU’s Art Museum hosts the traveling exhibition “Dafatir: Contemporary Iraqi Book Art” in its Hall Case Galleries from Tuesday, Aug. 28, through Saturday, Oct. 13. The public is invited to an opening reception from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 30.
“Dafatir” brings Iraqi art to Illinois at a crucial time when daily news images fail to present a living culture which is reacting to both its history and recent events. This exhibition is the third in the museum’s series of artist-made books.
“Dafatir” (“notebook” in Arabic) presents the works of three generations of Iraqi artists working in the book form. Iraqi art historian Dr. Nada Shabout curated the exhibition featuring the work of 17 artists, some still working in Baghdad, as well as several others living in exile for various lengths of time.
The selections of “Dafatir” present experimentation with book arts, ranging in subject from contemporary events to modern poetry and stylistically from representation to abstraction.
“Dafatir” was organized by the University of North Texas Art Gallery in Denton, Texas, and supported by the Texas Commission on the Arts.
The NIU Art Museum’s Hall Case and North galleries are located on the west end of the first floor of Altgeld Hall. The Hall Case Galleries are open to the public from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday.
Exhibitions are always free. The exhibitions of the NIU Art Museum are funded in part by the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, the Friends of the NIU Art Museum, and the Arts Fund 21.
For more information, visit www.vpa.niu.edu/museum or call (815) 753-1936.