A Tour Through the New Brody Learning Commons

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Hi again everyone.  With the start of the school year and all the new faces on campus (a topic recently covered by our own Admissions_Laurin in her new blog post, “Movin’ On In”), I wanted to take this time to introduce one of those new faces to you all.  To be fair, it isn’t really a new face so much as it is a new façade.  But, like any new building on campus, it’ll quickly become another essential aspect of the undergraduate experience here at Hopkins.

I’m writing today about the newest building on campus, the Brody Learning Commons.  Named in honor of the university’s 13^th president, William R. Brody, and his wife, Wendy, the Brody Learning Commons connects on all floors to the Milton S. Eisenhower Library (also named after a university president and brother of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, for all you history buffs out there).  However, the goal of this space is to encourage collaboration as well as a more social studying atmosphere.  The building boasts 16 group study rooms, 6 seminar rooms, a three-story atrium, and lots of natural light.  The admissions staff was lucky enough to get a tour of the new facilities, and hopefully by the end of this blog, you’ll feel like you came along for the ride.

The Admissions Office leaves its mark...on the dry erase walls.

Entering the Brody Learning Commons, BLC, or BroCo depending on who you are talking to (yes, students have already assigned a nickname to the place…and the student opening was on the 6^th), I was struck by how open the building felt.  Looking at it from the outside, I saw that the façade was almost all long glass window panes.  Stepping inside, however, I began to realize how big of an effect that has.  Everything has nice, natural sunlight to shine on and highlight it.  The building ends up looking brighter and has a nice outdoor feel to it.  It’s certainly a far cry from the cramped libraries of the past and the quintessential dusty shelves of yore.

Coming in from the quad, I entered the newest café on campus, the Daily Grind.  This 75-seat café is part of a family of Daily Grind cafes around the Baltimore area (a shout out to all the hometown folks) and has a nice collection of snacks, sandwiches, and drinks for everyone’s different preferences.  Going past this to the atrium proper, the space opened up and covers 3 floors of the MSE Library.  This atrium is lined with glass windows and clear views of the study rooms of the BLC and the stacks of the MSE Library.    The openness and glass windows make people feel like they aren’t stuck inside in a cramped space, but rather, they are studying amongst all their friends.  The space really does a great job of integrating both libraries and showing off the best of each.

An Archaeology of Knowledge in the new study room.

Farther in on this floor, the tour stopped by the new quiet reading room, another fantastic space with high-lofted ceilings and plenty of lighting from the outside.  This 100-seat room gave the BLC a great, traditional collegiate feel to it with its wood paneling and studious atmosphere.  Of particular note, the artist Mark Dion created an installation at one end of the room called “An Archaeology of Knowledge”, which can best be described as a cabinet of curios, artifacts, and other fascinating objects found all throughout Hopkins.  The point of the cabinets and all of its contents is to inspire “productive day dreaming” in everyone who sees it (not an exaggeration, in my opinion).

The library hosts an array of new amenities from standard library ones to the far in the future technological innovations.  The BLC has the standard printing room with scanners and copiers.  However, if you bring your own laptop and decided you need to store it for a little while, you can rent out number locked lockers complete with outlets inside for all of your charging needs.  Many of the walls in the study rooms and throughout the buildings have a special paint on them that allow students to write on them with dry erase markers (no need to worry about running out of writing space anymore).  The building itself is LEED Silver certified, a rating given to various buildings based on their performance as a “green” building, and contains energy efficient windows and vents.  The Brody Learning Commons also contains a space to study and to have consultations on rare books and materials, The Winston Tabb Center for Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Archives Research.

The library lockers of the future.

Coming into the bottom of the atrium on B-level, I really got a sense of the size of the building and what it was trying to accomplish.  Furniture of all shapes and sizes were spread out through this space, all of which were movable and allowed students to arrange their study set-up any way that they chose.  The furniture itself was voted on by students back in 2010 based on which ones they wanted to see in the new library.  The new seats (a term used to describe everything from seat/back combos with no legs to soft, rolling cushion balls) really allow students to use anything they find comfortable while they are here.

Admissions_Ardi and Admissions_Shannon trying out the new study furniture.

More than just a study space, however, the Brody Learning Commons also houses active research projects.  In the atrium, the Department of Computer Science has placed a visualization wall made up of multiple video screens, Xbox Kinect Cameras, and an array of computers in the background.  The goal of this study is to analyze how people interact with computers and to determine what “natural” gestures are in the interactive sense (think Tom Cruise in Minority Report).  One floor down is The Department of Conservation and Preservation, home to the Heritage Science Project, which promotes original scientific research on conservation issues.  To find out more about these two projects, and about the Brody Learning Commons, you can also check out the article from the JHU Gazette: “An uncommon library” .

For the visualization wall, again, think of Tom Cruise from The Minority Report.

In the end, the Brody Learning Commons acts as a great compliment to what we already have on campus.  For those who need a more traditional space with a quiet atmosphere, we have the MSE Library, Gilman, and many of the other libraries and study rooms on campus.  For me as an undergraduate, I was always right on the top floor of the library right at the entrance.  I needed people passing by and chatting with me every once in a while to keep me motivated and working.  For me, the Brody Learning Commons provides the social study space that I always looked for.  So, whenever you get to campus, you can try out all the different spaces on campus and see what works for you.  When you settle there, you should make that space your own, but also know that you are just a few steps away from everywhere (and everyone) else as well.

Movin’ On In

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Last week, Admissions_Ardi and I took a stroll over to the freshman quad to watch some of the move-in activity. As usual, it was a scene of perfectly organized chaos. And when I say perfectly organized, I mean just that. JHU’s move-in day reflects the excellence, efficiency, and enthusiasm that we value in our academic and extracurricular lives here on campus. For new students and parents, I think it’s the perfect introduction to the incredible place that will serve as a home away from home for the next four years. The freshman quad was filled with Peer Ambassadors and Orientation Ambassadors who were busily moving boxes and bags from packed minivans, smiling all the while. A student-run business, The Complete Dorm Room, doled out pre-purchased XL sheets, fans, and school supplies to slightly harried parents. And, of course, there were lots of freshman students, looking just a tad nervous as they observed the confident returning students hauling their stuff.

The Complete Dorm Room staging area

Nervousness is a pretty typical (and reasonable!) emotion to feel on move-in day. But when I asked some of your favorite student bloggers to share memories of their freshman move-in experiences, it became clear that nervousness was always quickly joined by another emotion; namely, amazement at the painlessness of the process. From JHU_Tess :

      “I remember the dread on my family’s faces the morning of my freshman year move-in. The previous year my older brother had gone to college, and to say that his move-in was a disaster would be the understatement of the century. So as we drove to Homewood, the tension in the car was palpable. As it turned out, there was no reason to be concerned. My family still discusses to this day how we didn’t lift a finger throughout the entire process. Everything was organized and efficient, and by the time I made it up to my room, the Hopkins movers had already brought up all my stuff!”

      From JHU_Lucie : “When I moved into AMR 2 as a freshman, my family was incredibly nervous wondering how we’d get everything into the room; you see, I’m a twin, and my dad’s car was filled to the brim with college items for TWO people. When we pulled up in front of the dorm, our car was swarmed with move-in helpers wearing ‘I like to move it move it’ t-shirts, and, in what felt like 30 seconds, our car was empty!”

The bonding that occurs during move-in was also a theme. From JHU_Erica :

       “I’ll never forget rolling my suitcases from the hotel across the street to AMR 2. It started pouring down rain and I was dripping wet when I arrived to my room, but all the volunteers and students were so friendly and welcoming! My entire house bonded over the terrible move in weather since most of us were soaking wet!”

From JHU_Ruthie: “The way PAs and OAs collect the student from the car allows the freshman to meet someone new the instant they step onto campus, and that kind of immediate bonding only happens because everything is structured so effectively. I remember the PA who moved me in last year – she actually turned out to be one of my Alpha Phi sisters after I rushed! I hope that I’ve had the same positive effect now that I’m on the flip side.”

"Hey, I just ,met you, and this is crazy, but here's your dorm keys, so move in maybe." Carly Rae would be proud.

I loved reading what each SAABer remembered about his or her move-in day, and as I did, I couldn’t help thinking back to my own experience four years ago. Because I was a Pre-O kid coming from Minnesota, my parents weren’t able to help me move in to my room—instead, we left my stuff at the Outdoor Pursuits basecamp when I went off for my trip. When I returned from Pre-O, some of my leaders helped me load my stuff into a van and haul it over to AMR II, where I was met by a team of eager, friendly student movers. Within minutes, all of my boxes and bags had been dropped in the middle of my second floor room in Gildersleeve house. I couldn’t even begin to think about settling in without taking a shower first—I was pretty sure I would scare away any fellow freshmen I encountered in my post-Pre-O state.

Admissions_Ardi and I got a little nostalic and snapped some pictures in front of our AMR II houses.

I'm a Gildersleeve girl for life.

After wandering around the maze that is AMR II for a several minutes looking for a bathroom, I finally found one and spent a good half hour washing away the after effects of a week on the Appalachian Trail. Pre-O had also left me with a nice, big pile of very dirty clothes, so my next stop was the laundry room. Although I had practiced doing my own wash several times that summer, I still managed to load my quarters into a dryer instead of a washing machine, which led to several more trips up and down the stairs to get dollar bills to make change to put into the correct appliance. At this point, I was famished, so I went off in search of dinner. The FFC wasn’t open yet, so I tried to make my way into Charles Village. Instead, I got totally turned around and found myself near what I would later be able to identify as the Hopkins Club (which is basically in the opposite direction of Charles Street, for those of you who aren’t familiar with campus). I had done a pretty good job of staying calm until this point. I had gotten to my dorm, picked up my keys, found the bathrooms, done my laundry, met my R.A. But now I was hungry and lost, and I was losing it. My chin was trembling as I dialed my home number on my cell phone, and by the time my mom picked up, I was sobbing. We laugh about that phone call now, but at the time, she says, it was so hard to be so far away, feeling like she couldn’t help me. She did, however, get me calmed down enough to continue my quest for dinner, which eventually led me to Chipotle.

Reaching Chipotle was like discovering an oasis in the desert. In high school, my friends and I would actually drive 45 minutes from our small town just to get Chipotle. I would soon learn that novelty of this particularly chain restaurant was lost for me when I no longer had to go to such great lengths to get it. But right then, it was just what I needed. As I sat there with my burrito bowl, awkwardly pretending to read some of the freshmen brochures I had brought along to distract me, a couple of older-looking girls walked in. As they waited in line, another group of girls entered, and a reunion full of happy squeals and shrieks ensued. I couldn’t help but smile a little. They sounded just like me and my best friends from high school when we saw each other after time apart. They seemed really happy, so sure of themselves, and so at ease in a place that was so foreign and strange to me at that moment. I know it sounds super corny, but I actually remember thinking to myself, “That will be me, someday soon.” Before I knew it, a year went by, and I came back to a campus I could navigate easily and met my friends for dinner at our favorite Charles Village spots. That process repeated itself two more times, and suddenly, I was walking across the stage in Homewood field, a college graduate, with a crew of amazing best buds cheering me on.

For those of you staring down the college application process, it might be tough to envision finding yourself in a place where you feel as comfortable as you do now. The truth is, there will be moments of uncertainty, even when you arrive on your chosen college’s campus. You might find yourself overwhelmed by the amount of stuff you brought, or caught in the rain with your bags, or pretending to read brochures in a Chipotle. But it’s okay, because everyone else is having those same kinds of moments. Then something wonderful will happen: maybe, after a laundry fiasco, you’ll meet your future roommate in the hallway of your dorm (like me) or, like JHU_Allysa, you’ll find love during O-Week:

      “I met my boyfriend during Orientation! In addition to Aaron, I pretty much met all of my best friends during Orientation week and today, out of all of my friends, they are the ones I know that will be my friends for a lifetime.”

The bottom line is, it will be okay. Before you know it, you’ll be watching a group of new freshmen loitering around the dorms. Who knows? You may even be one of those peppy Peer Ambassadors helping them transition into a new dorm and a new stage of life.

Homewood Construction Updates: Spring 2012

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In case you haven’t heard, Baltimore has been in the midst of a warm weather spell for the last few weeks! Flowers are blooming, the sun has been out (for the most part anyway!), and students have been hanging out on the beach. With such gorgeous weather, Admissions_Daniel and I have been taking early morning walks around campus before we start our committee evaluations. While it has been great to see the daffodils springing up from the ground and the cherry blossoms opening, we have also been amazed at how far campus construction has come along. Whether it be the Brody Learning Commons addition to the library, the building of the lab facilities on the back side of Mudd Hall, the creation of the Cordish Lacrosse Center, or the improvements on the Homewood House, the campus is looking better than ever!

Here are some snapshots of the current construction sites during a recent walk around Homewood. For full details on these projects, read through our Homewood Expansion blog post from last August.

Brody Learning Commons

Brody Learning Commons

Brody Learning Commons

Homewood House Museum: Updating Front Entrance

Undergraduate Teaching Labs

Undergraduate Teaching Labs

Undergraduate Teaching Labs

Undergraduate Teaching Labs

Undergraduate Teaching Labs

Cordish Lacrosse Center

Cordish Lacrosse Center

Johns Hopkins Archaeological Museum – We Dig It!

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When I first arrived at Hopkins about six and a half years ago, one of the first “fun facts” I heard about was of an Egyptian mummy on campus, who had been given the nickname “Boris.” The mummy is in fact on long-term loan to the Johns Hopkins Archaeological Museum from Goucher College, and has been since the 1980s.  In 1988, Dr. Betsy Bryan, the museum’s director and an eminent Egyptologist, oversaw the CT-scanning of “Boris,” which resulted in the re-discovery that “he” was in fact a “she. “ For my first year, this was all I knew of our archaeological collection.

Then, I heard that there was more than an Egyptian mummy in our archaeological collection—we had thousands of objects. But where were they? Why had I never seen them? I had been to Gilman Hall where they were kept, but no one had ever pointed them out to me, nor did I notice any glass cases with these pieces. I soon learned that the reason I had never seen them was because they were not on display all the time. What a shame!

After my second year here, the news came that Gilman was to undergo a three-year, $73 million renovation which would include an archaeological museum! I saw mock drawings, building plans, and articles in the Gazette that talked about what was in store for the building.

A year and a half ago, it was time to reopen Gilman Hall. I couldn’t have been more excited to check out the new museum, and FINALLY meet the mysterious mummy that I had heard so much about. My first trip to the archaeological museum was fantastic! Sanchita Balachandran, Curator/Conservator of the museum and lecturer in Near Eastern Studies, took us on a tour and told us about the vast collection. She talked about hands-on work she had been doing with current students, and told us about Director Dr. Bryan’s work with specific artifacts.

With pieces from ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, the Near East, and the ancient Americas, the installation showcases almost 700 objects. These pieces, in addition to those still being sorted and cataloged, have come from a variety of different places—some have been purchased by the university, some gifted by prominent Baltimoreans, others donated by alumni, and others put on loan for us to identify, study, research, and display.  The museum also has an extraordinary loan of over 2,000 ancient Egyptian objects from Eton College in Windsor, England, as well as objects from the Baltimore Museum of Art, in addition to the Egyptian mummy from Goucher College.

The museum has not only done an excellent job of making the pieces in the museum accessible, but it has also done phenomenal work in conservation (just take a look at http://archaeologicalmuseum.jhu.edu/the-collection/conservation/ to see items restored or cleaned…it’s amazing!)

Here are a few highlights on what type of pieces are currently being studied:

• A Roman Lead Curse Tablet – We currently have a collection of lead tablets, all written by the same person, which curses five other individuals. One of the curses recently placed on view at the museum calls on the gods to destroy a man named Plotius with debilitating fevers, promising gifts in return if the curse is successful.
• Attic Red-Figure Vases – In the spring of 2011, Hopkins professor Alan Shapiro of the Classics Department conducted a course on these vases. It gave students the opportunity to examine the pieces, dive into their history, and create informational texts to be displayed along with them, allowing the public to more fully understand their purpose.
• An Unpublished Magic Spell from Late Antiquity – One of our Johns Hopkins professors, Theodore Lewis who teaches Aramaic at Johns Hopkins, and his graduate students were able to translate the text from a piece of an incantation bowl. They found that it was asking to ward off evil spirits from a person’s home!
• Archaeology of Daily Life - Hérica Valladares, a professor in the Classics Department at Johns Hopkins, created an undergraduate research seminar to “stimulate innovative research through the close study of objects.” In this seminar, students studied pieces that were used in the daily lives of people, as well as those that depict what daily life was like.

When Daniel Coit Gilman created Johns Hopkins University, his main goal was advancing knowledge through research and scholarship, so that this knowledge could then be spread to the world. (Click here to learn more about his vision.) As you can see, the new archaeological museum on campus has done just this! It has provided great opportunities for students at both the graduated and undergraduate level to learn through hands on experiences and share their findings.

When you visit campus next, be sure to stop by our archaeological museum (http://archaeologicalmuseum.jhu.edu/)— it is open Monday-Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and the outside cases can be viewed anytime the building is open. There’s no excuse not to visit!