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Motion-capture technology, ready and available, across the street in the 3D lab.

Go create something awesome.

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Wow, this is pretty neat!

Indiana Jones Mystery Package

We don’t really even know how to start this post. Yesterday we received a package addressed to “Henry Walton Jones, Jr.”. We sort-of shrugged it off and put it in our bin of mail for student workers to sort and deliver to the right faculty member— we get the wrong mail a lot.

Little did we know what we were looking at. When our student mail worker snapped out of his finals-tired haze and realized who Dr. Jones was, we were sort of in luck: this package wasn’t meant for a random professor in the Stat department. It is addressed to “Indiana” Jones.

What we know: The package contained an incredibly detailed replica of “University of Chicago Professor” Abner Ravenwood’s journal from Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. It looks only sort of like this one, but almost exactly like this one, so much so that we thought it might have been the one that was for sale on Ebay had we not seen some telling inconsistencies in cover color and “Ex Libris” page (and distinct lack of sword). The book itself is a bit dusty, and the cover is teal fabric with a red velvet spine, with weathered inserts and many postcards/pictures of Marion Ravenwood (and some cool old replica money) included. It’s clear that it is mostly, but not completely handmade, as although the included paper is weathered all of the “handwriting” and calligraphy lacks the telltale pressure marks of actual handwriting. 

What we don’t know: Why this came to us. The package does not actually have real stamps on it— the outside of the package was crinkly and dirty as if it came through the mail, but the stamps themselves are pasted on and look like they have been photocopied. There is no US postage on the package, but we did receive it in a bin of mail, and it is addressed to the physical address of our building, Rosenwald Hall, which has a distinctly different address from any other buildings where it might be appropriate to send it (Haskell Hall or the Oriental Institute Museum). However, although now home to the Econ department and College Admissions, Rosenwald Hall used to be the home to our departments of geology and geography. 

If you’re an applicant and sent this to us: Why? How? Did you make it? Why so awesome? If you’re a member of the University community and this belongs to you or you’ve gotten one like it before, PLEASE tell us how you acquired it, and whether or not yours came with a description— or if we’re making a big deal out of the fact that you accidentally slipped a gift for a friend in to the inter-university mail system. If you are an Indiana Jones enthusiast and have any idea who may have sent this to us or who made it, let us know that, too. 

We know this sounds like a joke/hoax… it’s not (at least, from our end).  Any hints, ideas, thoughts, or explanations are appreciated. We’ve been completely baffled as to why this was sent to us, in mostly a good way, but it’s clear this is a neat thing that either belongs somewhere else— or belongs in the halls of UChicago admissions history.

Internet: help us out. If you’re on Reddit (we’re not) or any other nerdly social media sites where we might get information about this, feel free to post far and wide and e-mail any answers, clues, ideas, thoughts, or musings to indianajonesjournal@uchicago.edu  (yes, we did set up an email account just to deal with this thing). 

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“Get Out & Vote,” infographic for the Michigan Daily, by Alicia Kovalcheck. 2 October 2012.

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inside the bell tower on north campus :)

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As the school year starts, consider a walk or cycling trip around the University of Michigan’s North Campus!

Escape the hustle and bustle of the busy beginning of school season with an out of doors adventure around one of the many sculptures of North Campus such as the Wave Field and Begod (by Alexander Liberman). Interested in where and what public art is located around North Campus? Check out this map by U of M’s President’s Advisory Committee on Public Art to help plan out your next walk or bike ride!

P.S. The link will also connect you to maps for South, Central, and the Medical campuses!

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Bill Austin, Michigan Stadium tour guide, shows members and students in the masters in Entrepreneurship Program; a new collaboration between the College of Engineering and the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, the Michigan Football stadium on August 27, 2012. 

www.engin.umich.edu

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President Coleman Spins the Cube to Start the Day at the University of Michigan

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This is Michigan. Welcome back everyone!

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Some of the chalk drawings in the study nooks in North Quad.

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What is this chair doing in the middle of the North Campus diag? We’re filming our Video Time Capsule project, where we ask the Class of 2016 how they want to make a difference in the world. First-years - come document your hopes and dreams.

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Detroit: a line through lives and places — an immersive installation and an interactive online site, this artwork will map, evoke, and reflect a cross-section of the complex urban space of Detroit. The work will be created as part of OpenEndedGroup’s Roman J. Witt Artists in Residency at the University of Michigan , and will continue and extend their collaboration with the university’s Institute for Humanities, for which they completed the predecessor work, plant, last year.

http://openendedgroup.com/index.html

Looking forward to Paul Kaiser and OpenEndedGroup being with us in the fall.

(via umartdesign)

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So… I *think* I’m done for now! (Still gotta do my bed and put up posters but I’ll get to that eventually)

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University of Michigan library reading room, Ann Arbor, 1901.

Via Shorpy.

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Ohmygod I’m obsessed with this!

10 DAYS! GO BLUE!

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From the website: Pink Dot Sg is a non-profit movement started by a group of individuals who care deeply about the place that LGBT Singaporeans call home. It is a group for everyone, straight and gay, who support the belief that everyone deserves the freedom to love. With openness and acceptance, we hope to bring LGBT Singaporeans closer to their family and friends.

Pink is the colour of our ICs. It is also the colour when you mix red and white – the colours of our national flag. Pink Dot stands for an open, inclusive society within our Red Dot, where sexual orientation represents a feature, not a barrier.

—————————- I think that this event is a good example of the progress that is being made toward gaining rights and overall acceptance for members of the LGBTQ community in Singapore. Granted, there is still a long way to go— for instance, known sexual acts between two males can result in imprisonment for up to two years under section 377A of Singapore’s Penal Code. Hopefully, though, Pink Dot and events like it will continue to grow and ultimately result in a society where members of the LGBTQ community can be fully accepted and supported instead of criminalized. -Rachel

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“After the Closing Ceremony,” infographic for the Michigan Daily, by Alicia Kovalcheck. 13 August 2012.