Places
Classrooms, Labs, Studios and Offices
The College of Arts and Sciences is housed in eleven campus buildings: Pray-Harrold Hall, Mark Jefferson Hall, Strong Hall, the Judy Sturgis Hill Building, the Alexander Music Building, Ford Hall, Sherzer Hall, the Sculpture and Ceramics Studios, Pease Auditorium, and the Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Research Facility. Our modern facilities provide state-of-the-art learning environments for our students.
Theatres, Auditoriums and Galleries
EMU Planetarium
The EMU Planetarium is a 37-seat full-dome digital theatre with a 28 foot-diameter ceiling. It is driven by a Digitalis Education Systems Lambda Projection System, upgraded from their Epsilon model in early 2023. The facility resides in a spherical classroom suspended four stories above the ground in the atrium area of Mark Jefferson Hall. The atrium ground floor features glacial rocks common to Michigan with a theme of "Space above, Earth below."
Pease Auditorium
A cultural jewel in the heart of Ypsilanti since 1914, Pease Auditorium hosts performances by EMU music faculty and students as well as guest artists. Performers and speakers who have appeared at Pease include the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Count Basie, John Philip Sousa, Duke Ellington, the Joffrey Ballet Company, Pearl Bailey, Igor Stravinsky, The Temptations, Cicely Tyson, Robert Kennedy, Wynton Marsalis, and the National Shakespeare Company.
Legacy and Sponberg Theatres
The larger of our two main stage theatres, the Legacy Theatre, is a 381-seat proscenium stage showcasing faculty-directed main stage productions. In its 50+ years at our University, this theatre has seen its share of fame, from the author and critic John Gassner, who was a guest at the theatre's first performance, to alums who have gone on to be in major productions on-and off-Broadway and in TV series, like Peter J. Saputo, AKA Pater Jaye, and Dann Florek, best known for his role in "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."
The 202-seat Sponberg Theatre is the more intimate of our two mainstage houses. It is located just beyond the Judy Sturgis Hill Building's main lobby. It offers a 18' x 40' modified thrust stage. Part of the stage can be removed to accommodate a small band. A system of catwalks allows access to areas over the stage and the auditorium for effects and lighting. The lighting control system consists of 36 2.4k racked dimmers augmented by four CAE ULD-360 portable dimmer packs for a total of 60 dimmers, enabling many interesting effects.
Visual Arts Galleries
The Student Center houses two gallery spaces. The University Gallery features major exhibitions and events intended for the School of Art & Design, the University, and the larger community. A second gallery in the Student Center is directed by the student-run Intermedia Gallery Group, and is dedicated to showcasing student work. It provides excellent opportunities for students to experience firsthand the endeavors involved both in exhibiting their own work and managing a gallery space.
The Ford Gallery, located in Ford Hall, maintains a year-round schedule of exhibitions and artist lectures. It serves as a venue for the work of outside artists and graduate thesis exhibitions, as well as undergraduate and graduate student exhibitions.
Off-Site Locations
Fish Lake Environmental Education Center
The Fish Lake Environmental Education Center (also known as "Fish Lake") comprises 240 lovely, wooded acres on the shore of Fish Lake, near Lapeer, Michigan and includes housing and dining facilities. The property is currently used for classes in the departments of Biology and Geology and Geography. The facility is also used as a research site by many, for stargazing by students in the Astronomy Club, and by K-12 school groups.
Parsons Center for Arts & Sciences
In 2000, an 86-acre parcel of land near Traverse City, as well as a major endowment, were gifted to EMU from the estate of Jean Noble Parsons. Programming at the Center is designed to bring artists and scientists together for mutual intellectual stimulation. Ms. Parsons understood that artistic creativity and mental health can involve an awareness, understanding and appreciation of natural environments, and she hoped to see her property and assets used to create a special interdisciplinary approach to the study of art and science.