More humanities classes are appearing in science buildings, including Victoria Hall and the Chevron Science Center, sparking mixed feelings among students and professors.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Buildings like the Cathedral of Learning, Posvar Hall and the Frick Fine Arts Building on central campus are home to most of Pitt\u2019s humanities classes. This semester, more students are reporting that their humanities classes are scheduled in science buildings farther from central campus \u2014 effectively disrupting their daily schedules and causing frustration.<\/p>\n
Jonathan Helm, University Registrar, said humanities classes have \u201chistorically been assigned rooms as they are now,\u201d taking class size, room availability and technological needs, among other factors, into consideration. When classrooms are being assigned, Helm said the Office of the University Registrar<\/a> tries to use available spaces \u201cas efficiently as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c[Classroom assignments are made] while factoring class size, technology needs, seating type, geographical proximity to the home department or school, etcetera,\u201d Helm said. \u201cThere is no intentional shift of humanities classes farther away from their home department or school.\u201d<\/p>\n Calum Matheson, chair and associate professor for the department of communication, is teaching COMMRC1117, \u201cPropaganda and Misinformation in the 21st Century,\u201d in the Victoria Building this semester. This is Matheson\u2019s first time teaching in Victoria, and thus far, he reported a positive classroom experience.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt has been an excellent experience overall,\u201d Matheson said. \u201cI have found the layout to be good and the equipment in excellent condition relative to most of the available classrooms here. Walking from my office adds a bit of effort, but I chose that for myself.\u201d<\/p>\n When building schedules, professors can request certain meeting times<\/a> or buildings<\/a>, but their requests are not guaranteed.<\/p>\n Despite the ongoing construction in the Cathedral of Learning, particularly on the second floor, Helm said there are no classroom shortages at Pitt.<\/p>\n \u201cBy most standard metrics, the University does not have a classroom shortage. However, that does not mean there are no challenges to be addressed,\u201d Helm said. \u201cIt is certainly true that classroom utilization is high during peak hours, but there is typically availability outside the peak period.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Courtney Weikle-Mills, literature program director and associate professor, is teaching ENGLIT0560, \u201cChildren and Culture,\u201d in the Victoria Building this semester. She said there are some positives to having class in Victoria Hall, including the interdisciplinary nature of the building.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe space for the lecture is better, as the seats are closer together and pitched so that the classroom feels more intimate than the 100-person room in the Cathedral,\u201d Weikle-Mills said. \u201cI was also able to draw a number of nursing students, which is not the norm for this class, but gives us a positive chance to have interdisciplinary conversations.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n However, because the Victoria Building is further from central campus than other Pitt humanities-based buildings \u2014 including the Cathedral, Frick Fine Arts and Posvar Hall \u2014 Weikle-Mills said the long walk times can disrupt the class.<\/p>\n \u201cMany students are coming from the Cathedral and need to return to the Cathedral, which means that the beginning and end of class are disrupted by students coming in late and packing up early,\u201d Weikle-Mills said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Amelia Stilley, junior communications rhetoric and public and professional writing student, said having COMMRC1182, \u201cMedia Relations,\u201d in Victoria Hall last semester was particularly troubling.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was definitely a pain trying to get up there walking or driving, especially since I live in South Oakland,\u201d Stilley said. \u201cI don\u2019t think the classroom took away from the class itself, but the walk definitely made it hard to motivate myself to go to class.\u201d<\/p>\n Sofia Marretta, a junior double majoring in communications and public and professional writing, described the walk from the Cathedral to Victoria as \u201cfrustrating.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMy sophomore spring, I only had 10 minutes to get from the fourth floor of Cathy to Victoria, and it was miserable, especially in the bad weather,\u201d Marretta said. \u201cSince they were required courses for my major, I didn\u2019t have a choice.\u201d<\/p>\n