Indiana University

Photo by MARELBU, CC BY 3.0Welcome to Indiana University Bloomington. I attended and graduated from IU a while ago, and really hope you enjoy this tour of the campus! In a few hours, we will walk all around the campus to see the buildings for all of the major areas of study at the university as well as a learn a little of the history of IU. The entire walk will take about four hours.

Before we start, know that navigation through the tour uses just the few buttons at the bottom of your screen. Just click the buttons on the right to move through the stops on the tour. Occasionally there might be two 'next' buttons. Select the lower one for more details or the top to move on to the next stop. Use the buttons on the left to move backwards through the content, the upper middle button to move to a more general tour or tap the lower middle button to access settings or to jump directly to specific content - like if you want a preview of what remains on tour or are running out of time and want to skip ahead.

The tour begins at the iconic Sample Gates, a symbol of entrance to the university and a popular spot for photos. These gates are a new addition added in the last decade or two, long after the university was founded in 1820. If this is your first view of the campus buildings, you have likely noticed that they are all made of the same material, Indiana limestone. In addition to the beautiful look of the stone, I hope you agree that they add a serious academic feel to the place. As we walk, you'll notice that though the building material stays the same, the building styles change with the vintage of the buildings - from the classical architecture seen here to the modern architecture used on the art and library buildings I'll show you later.

Before we get going, lets start with a few tidbits about the school and famous folks who have attended IU. First, if you have not seen the movie Breaking Away and are interested in IU Bloomington - watch it. It was released back in the 1980s, but tells a good coming-of-age story built around the university. Don't take the lack of interaction between the students and local folks described in the movie serious though as it's not an issue. But it does show a lot about the nearby parks, highly-attended little 500 event, greek life, and some of the key campus buildings.

As for well-known people that attended IU (beyond sports stars), the list includes TV newswoman Jane Pauly, businessman Mark Cuban, musician Josh Bell and more.

Ok. Before we get going, know that the tour comes to a close at the nearby Indiana Memorial Union, a historic gathering place that features an array of dining options, recreational activities, and event spaces.

Click the 'Next' button on the bottom right of the screen when you are at the Sample Gates.