The school, formed by the merger of the School of Journalism and the telecommunications and communications and culture departments, is a unit of the College of Arts and Sciences, according to the University.
The Media School formally came into existence as of July 1, 2014, but the inauguration will represent a more formal beginning of the school.
“This is a historic day for the IU Bloomington ?campus,” Provost Lauren Robel said in a University release. “The inauguration of the Media School, which is built on our longstanding traditions of excellence in journalism, cinema and film, and communication, is a major step toward our goal of becoming the pre-eminent public university site for teaching and research about media.”
The inauguration of the Media School will begin at 2 p.m. Friday in Franklin Hall, which is the future home of the Media School, according to the University.
IU President Michael McRobbie will preside over the ceremony. Also involved will be Robel, Larry Singell, dean of COAS, and Maria Elizabeth Grabe, professor of telecommunications.
The event is open to the public.
The Media School currently has around 70 faculty members, according to the University.
The school will provide instruction in varied forms of media production including print, broadcast, radio, film and alternative digital art forms such as gaming and multiplatform storytelling.
The ceremony will also include the dedication of the newly installed sculpture of Ernie Pyle outside Franklin Hall.
Ernie Pyle, a famed World War II correspondent, attended IU and was a former editor at the Indiana Daily Student.
The sculpture was made by Tuck Langland, who also created the sculpture of ?Herman B Wells on campus.
The School of Journalism has long been housed in Ernie Pyle Hall and the sculpture serves as a way to preserve Pyle’s legacy on campus, according to the University.
A national search is underway for the Media School’s first dean.
Renovations of Franklin Hall, which was built as a library in 1907, are scheduled to begin soon.
Franklin Hall will house classrooms, faculty offices, student media and a central commons, which will be open 24 hours a day, according to the University.
A large window on the roof of Franklin Hall is planned to open the space and introduce natural light into the commons.
Light and transparency are a large part of the renovation plans, according to the University.
There are also plans for a state-of-the-art broadcast studio and control room.
The building is planned to feature six teaching labs and 12 editing labs.
There will be a new advising and career suite for Media School students, according to the University.
Classrooms will be equipped to double as cinemas for film screenings.
In addition to the revamped facilities for broadcast and print, the building will have an area designated for the game design program.
This will include an area for testing games as well as a physical computing ?prototyping space.
The Institute for Communication Research, formerly part of the Department of Telecommunications, will also be housed in Franklin Hall.
There will be resources specifically available to graduate students.
Apart from Franklin Hall renovations, improvements have been made to the facilities currently housing the units of the Media School.
The College is investing $1.3 million toward improving and updating the equipment in Studio 5 in the Radio/Television building.
The Media School will be providing frequent updates on their website, ? mediaschool.indiana.edu .
Anna Hyzy
