Virginia B. Ball Center

• explore the connections among the arts, humanities, science, and technology
• create a product to illustrate their collaborative research and interdisciplinary study
• present their product to the community in a public forum

Four Ball State University faculty members are chosen annually to teach interdisciplinary immersive learning seminars to 15 students. The students are chosen by application or audition. 

Collaborating with a community sponsor, each group of faculty and students creates a product such as an exhibit, performance, or publication to engage the community in public dialogue. Past projects include a documentary examining the impact of Title IX, a video game teaching children about ecology, and much more.

Your gift will provide funding to sustain the center for the next five years.

The work at the Virginia Ball Center is best illustrated by its projects, including these recent ones:

Fall 2008

• “State of Assault: A Comprehensive Forensic Analysis”—a victim-centered perspective on how sexual assault cases are handled by experts in forensics, nursing, law enforcement, DNA analysis, patient advocacy, and legal prosecution. The seminar will develop a DVD that will outline the evolving needs and future trends in rape case management, including laboratory technologies and assault kit evidence collection protocol changes.
• “LifeWerx: A Virtual World Made for Business”— development of LifeWerx, a fully functional 3-D simulated environment designed to enhance the everyday work experience by designing, modeling, constructing, implementing, and testing avatars and interfacing elements of a virtual world that could be used by anyone.

Spring 2009 

• “Putting the Pieces Together: The Big Picture of Business”—develop a documentary illustrating the importance of interdisciplinary and cross-functional thinking necessary in modern business by focusing on operations and decision making processes. Real-world businesses use skills and insights from all the core disciplines inside and outside the Miller College of Business. The film will help business students and young professionals see the interrelated nature of these disciplines as they impact actual business operations.
• “Learning About the Honeybee: An Interactive Exhibit”—develop and install a children’s interactive museum exhibit on the honeybee. The exhibit, which will include a science curriculum, will help children learn how the honeybee community works and how it contributes to the fertilization of our food supply and the larger environment. The exhibit will also raise questions about why in the last few years honeybees having been leaving their hives and exhibiting other unusual forms of behavior.