Strategic Communications and Marketing News Bureau

Museum presents chess exhibit

The new exhibit “Chess: Gymnasium of the Mind” opens April 4 in Spurlock Museum of World Culture’s central core gallery, 600 S. Gregory St., Urbana. The display features a variety of chess sets from around the world highlighting unique pieces, boards and moves, and runs through July 7.

The project is part of thesecond annual Spring Symposium held by Playful by Design, an interdisciplinary game studies consortium at the University of Illinois.The sets are on loan from local game enthusiasts David Dubin, Dan Cermak and Judith Pintar.

Playful by Design will also host a special exhibit-opening event Thursday, April 4, from 2-4:45 p.m. Watch a demonstration of chess hacks games created by U. of I. students that are variations in pieces, boards or rules.  At 3 p.m., Allen Turner of the DePaul University College of Computing and Digital Media will give the keynote address. Turner isa black/Lakota/Irish game designer, storyteller, artist, dancer, author, performer and a 20-year veteran of the video games industry. A reception follows his speech.

The Playful by Design Spring Symposium will be held from April 4-6 at locations around the U. of I. campus, including the Armory Innovation Spaces and CU Community Fablab. More information about the event is online. Playful by Design is sponsored by the Illinois Project for Research in the Humanities, Spurlock Museum, Illinois Informatics, CU Community FabLab, CITL and the School of Information Sciences at Illinois.

Read Next

Humanities Diptych image with book cover of "The New Internationals" and a headshot of English professor David Wright Faladé

English professor’s novel tells of love triangle in post-WWII Paris, based on his family history

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A new novel by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign English professor David Wright Faladé tells the story of three people in a love triangle in post-World War II Paris. The characters in “The New Internationals” — a young French woman who has survived the Holocaust, a university student from West Africa and a […]

Life sciences Portrait of the research team posing together.

Minecraft players can now explore whole cells and their contents

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Scientists have translated nanoscale experimental and computational data into precise 3D representations of bacteria, yeast and human epithelial, breast and breast cancer cells in Minecraft, a video game that allows players to explore, build and manipulate structures in three dimensions. The innovation will allow researchers and students of all ages to navigate […]

Arts Photo of seven dancers onstage wearing blue tops and orange or yellow flowing skirts. The backdrop is a Persian design.

February Dance includes works experimenting with live music, technology and a ‘sneaker ballet’

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The dance department at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign will present February Dance 2025: Fast Forward this week at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. February Dance will be one of the first performances in the newly renovated Colwell Playhouse Theatre since its reopening. The performances are Jan. 30-Feb. 1. Dance professor […]

Strategic Communications and Marketing News Bureau

507 E. Green St
MC-426
Champaign, IL 61820

Email: stratcom@illinois.edu

Phone (217) 333-5010