1100 North University Building sign, 2018
Courtesy of Kim Clarke
Following a request by members of the U-M community to remove the name of the Clarence Cook Little Science Building and subsequent review by the President’s Advisory Committee on University History, the Board of Regents approved the removal of C.C. Little’s name from the building on March 29, 2018. This photograph of the new sign outside the building, designating it as the 1100 North University Building, was taken the same day.
Sites & Symbols organizes projects that foreground and explore the significance to institutional life of symbolic and material sites of memorialization and commemoration.
Whether they take the form of named spaces, legendary figures, public art, iconic structures, or shared rituals, these tokens of collective identity serve not only to express but also to shape and sustain systems of value that can help to forge community even as they demarcate zones of exclusion from it.
Operating in partnership with the University Musical Society and the School of Music, Theatre and Dance, this project considers the 100+ year history of U-M’s Hill Auditorium with a focus on issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. More specifically, it considers the shifting ways in which Hill’s world-renowned stage has been used by different groups of historical actors (university faculty and administrators, arts organizations, student activists, community groups, etc.) to redefine the boundaries of culture, performance, and politics on our campus and across our region.
Beyond the Big House explores the critical role that athletics has played in the University of Michigan’s past. From the first instances of organized sports on campus in the 1860s to present-day controversies surrounding the ideals of amateurism, this project seeks to uncover how sports shed light on U-M’s development as an institution. The reach of the project is wide: It sees athletics as a window into larger social phenomena, including how race, gender, and ableism have shaped university culture. Who gets to participate in athletics and on what terms? How have opportunities in athletics changed over time? Why are athletics such a large part of college students’ experiences and expectations? Beyond the Big House approaches these questions by examining the archival record with an eye to understanding the complex ways in which athletics affect the University of Michigan—and how athletes themselves have pushed for social change.
