New renovations and expansions in Uris Hall have improved classroom and seminar room spaces in the Center for the Study of Inequality (CSI), given undergrads in the sociology department a computer lounge and provided more space for graduate students to hold meetings and conduct research.
"Sociology's new undergrad computing lab provides a good space for students to work on their own or collaborative projects,” said David Strang, sociology professor. “I have been meeting there with a team of students who are collecting obituary articles from the New York Times."
Mary Newhart, assistant director for CSI and manager of the renovation project, said the renovations and expansion were needed.
“We were seeing an increase in requests to hold events and activities in the department – particularly in CSI — more than our spaces could hold,” she said. “Our grad student space also needed a facelift and it’s great to have a computer lab for undergrads.”
The new CSI conference room is busy each day, hosting classes, small group sessions and meetings between students and faculty.
"The expanded CSI conference room can now accommodate larger seminars, such as my urban inequality course,” said Kendra Bischoff, assistant professor of sociology. “It is a comfortable space with a format that facilitates whole class as well as small group discussions."
On a recent day, graduate students Kaye Nantah and Chance A. Smith met in the grad lounge to continue a discussion from their morning seminar, while Camille Portier nibbled on her lunch.
“We spend a lot of time in here eating and having conversations about the things we had to read for class,” said Smith. “This room is so much better than what we had.”
