Nationality Rooms facts for kids

Nationality Rooms
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district Contributing property
Rooms ring the three-story Gothic hall, named the Commons Room, in the Cathedral of Learning
Location in Pennsylvania
Location	4200 Fifth Ave, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA
Built	Cathedral of Learning 1926 Nationality Rooms 1938-present
Architect	various
Architectural style	various, 18th century or earlier
Part of	Cathedral of Learning as part of the Schenley Farms Historic District (ID83002213)
NRHP reference No.	75001608
Quick facts for kids Significant dates
Added to NRHP	November 3, 1975
Designated CP	Cathedral of Learning: July 22, 1983

The Nationality Rooms are a special collection of 31 classrooms at the University of Pittsburgh. These rooms celebrate the many different countries and cultures that helped build the city of Pittsburgh. Each room was created and given by a specific national or ethnic group.

You can find these unique rooms on the 1st and 3rd floors of the Cathedral of Learning. This building itself is a famous landmark in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Even though they look like museum exhibits, 29 of the 31 rooms are used every day for university classes! The other two, the Early American and Syrian-Lebanon rooms, are display rooms. You can see them through glass doors or take a special guided tour.

The Nationality Rooms are more than just classrooms. They are part of a big program that encourages understanding between different cultures. The groups who helped create the rooms still participate today. They even offer scholarships for students to study abroad! The rooms also host lectures, concerts, and events that teach about the different cultures. National holidays are celebrated, and the rooms are decorated for these special times. You can visit the Nationality Rooms daily for public tours, as long as a class isn't happening.

History of the Nationality Rooms Program

The idea for the Nationality Rooms started in 1926. John Gabbert Bowman, who was the head of the University of Pittsburgh, asked Ruth Crawford Mitchell to lead the project. He wanted the community to be involved in building the Cathedral of Learning. He also wanted the inside of the building to be as inspiring as the outside.

Under Ruth Mitchell's guidance, different national groups in the Pittsburgh area were invited to create a room. Each group formed a committee to raise money, design the room, and gather materials. The University provided the room space and promised to take care of it forever. All the design, materials, and labor came from the community groups. Sometimes, foreign governments even helped by sending architects, artists, or special materials to make sure the rooms were truly authentic. Every detail, from door handles to wastebaskets, was carefully chosen. Many native artists and craftspeople worked on the rooms, often using imported items.

Ruth Mitchell was the director of the program until 1956. She oversaw the creation of the first 19 rooms on the first floor. Later, in 1965, E. Maxine Bruhns took over. She helped complete 12 more rooms on the third floor. Bruhns retired in 2020 after 54 years in the role.

Building a room on the first floor between 1938 and 1957 usually took three to ten years. It cost a lot of money, especially since this was during the Great Depression and World War II. More recent rooms have cost much more and also took up to ten years to finish.

Once a room is finished, the committees continue their work. They focus on cultural exchange and raise money for scholarships. These scholarships help University of Pittsburgh students and teachers study in other countries. The committees also host cultural events, lectures, and workshops in the rooms when classes aren't scheduled. They welcome important international visitors and even buy books for the university libraries. They also celebrate national holidays and decorate their rooms for these occasions.

The first four rooms opened in 1938: the Scottish, Russian, German, and Swedish Rooms. The newest rooms are the Turkish and Swiss rooms (2012), the Korean room (2015), and the Philippine Room (2019).

There were original plans for "Pennsylvania" classrooms on the second floor and "Pittsburgh" classrooms on the third floor. These would have shown the history of the state and city. However, only one of these, the Early American Classroom, was ever built. It is now considered one of the Nationality Rooms. The Nationality Room program grew to fill the first and much of the third floor instead.

When a room is completed, there's a special ceremony. A ceremonial key is given to the University's Chancellor. This shows that the room is a gift and that the University promises to take care of it. The committee members then join the Nationality Council. This council provides scholarships for students to study abroad in the summer.

Today, there are 31 Nationality Rooms. Twenty-nine are used for classes, and two (the Early American Room and the Syrian-Lebanon Room) are display rooms. Each room shows a different culture that influenced Pittsburgh's growth. Most rooms show a time before 1787, which is when the University was founded and the United States Constitution was signed. The only exception is the French Classroom, which shows the early 19th century. Two more rooms are currently being planned and funded.

In 1937, the Nationality Room Committee chairpersons placed a special copper plate in the Cathedral of Learning's cornerstone. It says:

Faith and peace are in their hearts. Good will has brought them together. Like the Magi of ancestral traditions and the shepherds of candid simplicity, they offer their gifts of what is precious, genuine and their own, to truth that shines forever and enlightens all people.

Since 1944, students from a group called Quo Vadis (which means "Where do you go?" in Latin) have given tours of the rooms. They guide over 40,000 visitors each year. You can also book special tours about things like animal symbols or folktales. About 100,000 people visit the Nationality Rooms every year.

Principles for Creating the Rooms

When the Nationality Rooms program started in 1926, there were clear rules. These rules made sure the rooms were authentic and focused on culture, not politics. Here are some of the main principles:

• A room must show an important architectural or design style from a nation. This nation must be recognized by the United States Department of State.
• The design should be cultural and beautiful, not political. The time period shown should be before 1787, the year the University was founded.
• No political symbols or pictures of living people are allowed inside the rooms.
• The only place a political symbol can be used is on the stone above the room's entrance in the hallway.
• No names of donors can be displayed in the rooms themselves. Donor names are recorded in a special book.
• Most architects and designers for the rooms were born and educated in other countries. This helped make sure the designs were truly authentic.

In the 1970s, some rules were updated. The definition of "nation" became broader. It now included groups of people with a unique culture, even if they didn't have their own independent country yet. This allowed for rooms like the Armenian and Ukrainian rooms before those countries became independent. It also allowed for the African Heritage Room.

Each room also has to be a real classroom. This means it needs student seats, a teacher's desk, good lighting, and modern technology. New rooms also have special equipment for narrated tours. The materials used must be authentic and long-lasting. They should teach about the cultures using appropriate non-political symbols and artifacts.

Explore the Classrooms

African Heritage Classroom

African Heritage Classroom

Location	Room 330
Dedicated	December 17, 1989
Concept	Dr. Laurence Glasco
Style	18th century Asante Temple
Architect	William J. Bates, A.I.A.

The African Heritage Classroom looks like an 18th-century Asante temple courtyard from Ghana. This courtyard would have been a place for ceremonies, learning, and worship. The room represents the entire continent of Africa. Its door carvings, made by Nigerian sculptor Lamidi O. Fakeye, show ancient African kingdoms.

Plaster designs around the top of the walls represent African arts, music, and sciences. A display case holds artifacts from different African nations. Below the chalkboard, doors with Igbo designs feature Sankofa birds. These birds symbolize learning from the past to prepare for the future. The steps and benches suggest the polished clay of an Asante temple. Open screens on the windows filter sunlight, just like in Asante buildings. Six special stools offer seating near a hand-carved teacher's desk.

Armenian Classroom

Armenian Classroom

Location	Room 319
Dedicated	August 28, 1988
Style	10th-12th century Monastic
Architect	Torkom Khrimian

The Armenian Classroom is inspired by the Sanahin Monastery, built between the 10th and 12th centuries. Its design features intersecting arches and a domed ceiling. These were built to help protect against earthquakes. The room's arches are made of Indiana limestone and weigh 22 tons. The floor below had to be strengthened to support it.

The cornerstone is a basalt stone from Sanahin. It holds the thumbprints of five of the oldest Armenian people living in Pittsburgh. It also has the handprint of an Armenian baby. This symbolizes the long history of Armenians in western Pennsylvania.

Austrian Classroom

Austrian Classroom

Location	Room 314
Dedicated	June 9, 1996
Style	17th-18th century Baroque
Architects	Franz Gerhardt Schnögass, Vienna Gunther J. Kaier, A.I.A. Pittsburgh

The Austrian Nationality Room shows the 18th-century Austrian Empire. This was a time of new ideas under Empress Maria Theresa and her son Joseph II. The room includes Baroque elements from the Haydnsaal in Schloss Esterházy. This is where Joseph Haydn worked as a music director.

Ceiling paintings show scenes from Roman mythology, similar to those in the Haydnsaal. The room has crystal chandeliers and gilded white furniture. The walls are covered in royal red tapestry. Gold-leafed pillars and a starburst-patterned floor add to the grand style. Display cases in the room show the history of the Austrian Empire. They also highlight the birthplaces of famous Austrian composers.

Chinese Classroom

Chinese Classroom

Location	Room 136
Dedicated	October 6, 1939
Style	18th-century Chinese Empire
Designer	Teng Kwei, Beijing
Architect	Henry Killiam Murphy

The Chinese Classroom is inspired by a palace hall in Beijing's Forbidden City. It honors Confucius and his idea of education for everyone. The teacher and students sit at the same level around a moon-shaped teakwood table. The teacher's chair has a carving that says, "Teach by inspiring gradually and steadily."

A slate portrait of Confucius is in the room, like one in his temple in Qufu. Above the red door, Chinese characters carved in stone say, "Humility of mind goes with loftiness of character." Stone lions guard the entrance, next to carvings of the plum blossom, China's national flower. The ceiling has a golden five-clawed imperial dragon. It is surrounded by clouds, showing nature's energy and freedom. Painted squares show dragons guarding the pearl of wisdom and the phoenix. The blackboard doors open to reveal paintings of the babao, or Eight Treasures. Below is a carved version of the Bagua, with its eight symbols around the Yin and Yang. The windows are made of frosted glass with special designs.

Czechoslovak Classroom

Czechoslovak Classroom

Location	Room 113
Dedicated	March 7, 1939
Style	Folk Motif
Architect	Dr. Bohumil Sláma, Prague

The Czechoslovak Classroom mixes elements from a Slovak farmhouse, a country church, and Charles University in Prague. It honors important people in Czechoslovak culture. The room's motto, "Pravda Vítězí," means "Truth Will Prevail." This motto surrounds a bronze portrait of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, the first president of Czechoslovakia.

A letter from Masaryk to Pitt students is displayed. It mentions John Amos Comenius' idea that "education is the workshop of humanity." All the wood in the room, except the furniture, is larch wood from the Carpathian Mountains. The ceiling is painted by Prague artists and shows flowers and plants from Czechoslovakia. It looks like a typical Slovak farmer's home. A "tree of life" design on the back wall surrounds a text from Charles IV. This text marked the founding of the University of Prague in 1348.

Murals on the bay window area show trees with flowers, fruits, animals, and insects. These reflect "peasant writings." Ceiling panels show eight famous Czech and Slovak people from history. These include Cyril and Methodius, who created the Cyrillic script, and John Amos Comenius, the father of modern education. The entrance door and professor's desk have intarsia (wood inlay) showing university subjects. Embroidery, lace, and Bohemian crystal are also displayed.

Early American Classroom

Early American Room

Location	Room 328
Presented	1938
Style	17th century New England Colonial
Architect	Theodore H. Bowman, A.I.A. Pittsburgh

The Early American Room is one of two display rooms, so it's not used for daily classes. It's open for guided tours. This room was created by George Hubbard Clapp, whose family came to New England in 1630. It shows a simple kitchen-living room from the 1650s.

The main feature is a nine-foot fireplace made of 200-year-old bricks. It has old iron tools for cooking. A small space in the brick wall was used for baking bread. A pole swings out from the fireplace for drying laundry or hanging a quilt. Huge hand-cut pine beams are used for the ceiling and fireplace. These were found in Massachusetts. The large table, benches, and chairs are made of white pine.

Wrought-iron candle holders provide light. The colonial-style windows were designed by glass artist Charles Connick. Decorations include old American coins, a working spinning wheel, and a hand-stitched sampler. A secret panel in a closet opens to a hidden staircase. This leads to an upstairs loft furnished as a 19th-century bedroom. It has a four-poster bed and a small cradle that belonged to composer Ethelbert Nevin. The bedroom also has personal items, like an 1878 wedding quilt. Some people say strange things have happened in this room, leading to stories that it's haunted.

English Classroom

English Classroom

Location	Room 144
Dedicated	November 21, 1952
Style	16th century Tudor-Gothic
Architect	Albert A. Klimcheck

The English Classroom is designed in the Tudor-Gothic style. It looks like the British House of Commons, which was rebuilt after a fire in 1834. This is the largest of the Nationality Rooms. It has several original items given by the British Government from the House of Commons. These items were damaged when the building was bombed in 1941.

The stone fireplace, hearth tiles, and oak paneling are from the Commons' "Aye Lobby." This is where members walk to vote "yes." The fireplace has the initials V.R. for Victoria Regina. A cast-iron fireback shows the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. An inscription above the fireplace is from Shakespeare's King Richard II. It says: "Set in the silver sea.....this blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England." Above the doorway hangs a royal coat of arms from 1688. The oak paneling still had black marks from the bombing when it arrived.

Under the ceiling are four carved limestone pieces from the House of Commons. They are carved with a Tudor rose. The windows have old, tinted glass in diamond shapes. Stained-glass medallions show coats of arms of English towns and universities. Portraits of Andrew W. Mellon and William Pitt (for whom Pittsburgh is named) are by the windows. A brick from 10 Downing Street is the room's cornerstone. The white oak floor is fitted with wooden pegs. The oak benches look like the old House of Commons benches. Two green leather chairs from the House of Commons Library were a gift. They were rebuilt using wood from the bombed House of Commons chairs.

French Classroom

French Classroom

Location	Room 149
Dedicated	January 23, 1943
Style	Late 18th-century French Empire
Architect	Jacques Carlu, Paris

The French Classroom was designed by Jacques Carlu. It reflects the French Empire Period, inspired by ancient Greek, Italian, and Egyptian styles. This means the room's style is from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. This makes it the only room that shows a time after the University of Pittsburgh was founded in 1787. However, many parts of the room are influenced by the Palace of Versailles, which is much older.

The room's colors are blue-gray, royal blue, and gold. These were popular colors during the French Empire. The walls have wood panels in classical style. Slender wall pilasters (flat columns) are topped with delicate gilded crowns. Carved decorations of Egyptian griffins and classical rosettes are on the panels. A wall cabinet with art, books, and medallions balances the entrance door. Crystal and metal chandeliers, simpler versions of those in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, hang from the ceiling. The parquet floor pattern also looks like many rooms in Versailles.

A mahogany teacher's chair and table are from the Directoire period. They have bronze ornaments imported from France. The student chairs are mahogany and upholstered in royal blue. On the back wall, a 16th-century Choufleur tapestry shows a woodland scene with a unicorn. Gold damask drapes with a wreath and lyre design add to the French style. The windows look out onto the University's Heinz Memorial Chapel, which is also French Gothic in style.

German Classroom

German Classroom

Location	Room 119
Dedicated	July 8, 1938
Style	16th-century German Renaissance
Architect	Frank A. Linder, Germany/U.S.

The German Classroom was designed by Frank A. Linder. It shows the 16th-century German Renaissance, like the Great Hall of the University of Heidelberg. The woodwork was done by Gustav Ketterer. It includes walnut paneling around the blackboards. Columns with arabesque designs flank the doorways. They support carved crests of the two oldest German universities: Heidelberg and Leipzig.

The doors have ornate wrought-iron hinges and locks. Their upper panels show scenes from Nürnberg and Rothenburg. Carved above the paneling are the names of famous German thinkers, artists, and scientists. The doors of the corner cabinets show German folklore tales, like Parsifal and Lorelei. Above the front blackboard are words from Friedrich Schiller: "Stern endeavor, which no arduous task can shake, to the hidden fount of true attains." The back wall has a quote from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: "Great mastery results from wise restraint, and law alone points the way to liberty."

The furniture includes a leather teacher's chair and walnut student chairs. Wrought-iron chandeliers were made by a German craftsman. A display case holds art and books from Germany's Ministry of Education. The stained-glass windows were designed by Charles Connick and completed by Frances Van Arsdale Skinner. They show characters from Grimm Brothers' fairy tales, like Little Red Riding Hood and Snow White.

Greek Classroom

Greek Classroom

Location	Room 137
Dedicated	November 7, 1941
Style	5th Century B.C. Classical
Architect	John Travlos, Athens

The Greek Classroom's classical style represents 5th-century BCE Athens, during the Golden Age of Pericles. It has marble columns and a patterned ceiling. Colored details from the Acropolis' Propylaea appear on white marble. The floor is made of rectangular slabs of Dionessos Pentelic marble. Gray Kokinara marble is used for the lower wall section.

The room's columns and ceiling have painted decorations just like ancient Greek buildings. Athenian artist Demetrios Kokotsis did the artwork. He used a traditional method with earth colors and beeswax, then added 24-carat gold leaf. This took two men over seven months. White oak furniture, inspired by Greek vases, has gold-leaf carvings. Student chairs have names of Greek islands. The teacher's chairs have the names of Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates. A line from Homer's Iliad encourages students to be noble and excellent. The deep red wall color is repeated in the drapes.

Archives in a cabinet record visits from the Queen of Greece and other officials. In 1940, one of the marble columns being made in Greece cracked. With World War II approaching, it couldn't be replaced. Greek architect John Travlos had a matching crack etched into the other column to keep them symmetrical. The marble was sent on the last ship to America before Greece was invaded. In November 1941, Travlos heard the dedication of his room on a banned BBC radio broadcast.

Hungarian Classroom

Hungarian Classroom

Location	Room 121
Dedicated	September 29, 1939
Style	Folk Motif
Architect	Dénes Györgyi, Budapest

Dénes Györgyi, a professor from Budapest, won the design competition for the Hungarian Classroom in 1930. The room features Magyar folk art, deep wood carvings, and historic stained glass windows. The walls are oak veneer, stained a soft brown. The wood panels were carefully chosen to create interesting patterns.

The ceiling has 70 wooden panels with a "paprika red" color. This color is inspired by peppers hung to dry in Hungary. The panels are decorated with folk motifs like birds, hearts, and tulips, painted by Antal Diossy in Budapest. An inscription around the top of the walls has the first two stanzas of Himnusz, the Hungarian National Anthem. Above the blackboard is the coat of arms of the University of Buda, founded in 1388. It has the crown of St. Stephen, Hungary's patron saint.

The oak student seats are simple, with carved tulip designs on the back. A bench and guest chairs are upholstered in blue. Along the hallway wall, carved panels show floral and bird designs. These are like "tulip chests," traditional hope chests for Hungarian brides. A display case shows Hungarian porcelain, lace, and dolls. Stained glass windows show the legend of Hungary's founding and important historical events. The back window shows King Nimrod and his sons, Hunor and Magor, chasing a white stag. The oak entrance doors have deep carvings of tulips, pomegranate leaves, daisies, and wheat. The carvings were made by Hungarian-born American wood carvers from models made in Budapest.

Indian Classroom

Indian Classroom

Location	Room 327
Dedicated	January 9, 2000
Style	4th-9th-century Indian Renaissance
Architect	Deepak Wadhwani, A.I.A.

The Indian Classroom is designed like a typical 4th-9th century AD courtyard from Nalanda University. Nalanda was a Buddhist monastic university in Nalanda, India. At its peak, it had five temples and 11 monasteries, covering 32 acres. Thousands of students from all over Asia came there. The room shows a classroom courtyard at Nalanda.

The pale rose bricks were specially made to match the original ones. They form the walls, floor, pillars, and niches. Six stone columns with rosettes and swags are like those at Nalanda. The back sculpture wall, a smaller version of one at Nalanda's Stupa #3, has images of six Bodhisattvas. Display cases hold copies of ancient bronze sculptures found at the site. A watercolor painting shows students at Nalanda and a Chinese traveler. Gurus taught classes in courtyards, surrounded by living cells.

The cherry wood chalkboard doors have carved seals of Nalanda University. Steel grilles in front of the windows filter the light. Renaissance 3 Architects won an award for building this room.

Irish Classroom

Irish Classroom

Location	Room 127
Dedicated	May 18, 1957
Style	500–1200 A.D. Irish Romanesque
Architect	Harold G. Leask, Dublin

The Irish Classroom is the smallest of the Nationality Rooms. This limestone room is designed in the Irish Romanesque style, popular from the 6th to 12th centuries. It looks like small churches built on Ireland's west coast. The triangular doorway is carved with human and animal faces. The blackboard frame has arches carved with plants, wolfhounds, and cat masks.

On the opposite wall, a stone chest is patterned after a bishop's tomb. Its carvings show the "Great Beast," an animal with interlaced designs. On the chest is a copy of the Gospels from the Book of Kells. A wrought-iron case has bird and beast designs from the Book of Kells. Stained-glass windows, made in Dublin, show famous teachers from Ireland's oldest learning centers. The chair design is inspired by the Book of Kells, except for the wolfhound heads. The oak-beamed ceiling is typical of Irish churches.

The cornerstone, from the Abbey of Clonmacnoise, has the Gaelic motto: "For the Glory of God and the Honour of Ireland." It hides a container of earth from both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The room was designed by Harold G. Leask, a former inspector of national monuments in Ireland.

Gov. David L. Lawrence, Art Rooney Sr. (owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers), and James W. Knox were on the room's committee. After President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, his wife, Jacqueline Kennedy, sent his Oval Office flags to the University of Pittsburgh for the Irish Room, honoring Knox. Scholarships for studying in Ireland were created from the money raised by auctioning these flags.

Israel Heritage Classroom

Israel Heritage Classroom

Location	Room 337
Dedicated	November 1, 1987
Concept	Alexander Kaufman
Style	1st century Israel Stone Structure
Architect	Martin Chetlin, A.I.A.

The Israel Heritage Classroom looks like a simple 1st-century Galilean stone house or meeting place. Its benches are like those in the 2nd-3rd-century synagogue of Capernaum. The Ten Commandments, carved in Hebrew, are on the oak entrance door. Grapes, pomegranates, and dates on the stone frieze (a decorative band) represent crops grown in Galilee.

On the window wall, an inscription from a 6th-century synagogue talks about the Talmudic laws for growing crops every seventh year. A scroll fragment in the back case is a copy of the Dead Sea Isaiah Scroll. It contains the prophecy: "They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks..." Old wine jars are next to the scroll. The teacher's table, based on one from a burnt house in Jerusalem, stands in front of a copy of the only existing stone Menorah. A quote on the chair says: "I learned much from my teachers, more from my colleagues, and most of all from my pupils."

Three parts of 6th-century Dura Europos murals are on the chalkboard doors. They show Ezra the Scribe reading the law, Moses bringing water for the 12 tribes, and the sons of Aaron consecrating the Temple. Oak benches have the names of the 12 tribes of Israel. The floor mosaic is a copy of one in the 6th-century Galilean synagogue of Beth Alpha.

Italian Classroom

Italian Classroom

Location	Room 116
Dedicated	May 14, 1949
Style	15th-century Italian Renaissance
Architect	Ezio Cerpi, Florence

The Italian Classroom shows the peacefulness of a 15th-century Tuscan monastery. It reflects the traditional focus on religion, art, music, and education. The back choir stall bench and shuttered windows introduce the monastery theme. The blackboard doors look like an armadio, a cabinet used to hold priestly clothes behind an altar.

The turquoise ceiling, decorated with carved, gold-leafed rosettes, was inspired by one in the San Domenico Convent. In the architrave (the main beam), names of famous Italians are inlaid in olive wood. The lettering is like that on the Arch of Titus in Rome. Bay benches have red velvet cushions. The red tile floor is laid in a herringbone pattern, similar to Florence's Palazzo Vecchio. An original Florentine fireplace, made of sandstone, has a Latin inscription: "O Lord, do not forsake me." On either side are Savonarola chairs.

Student benches are adapted from monastery designs and are carved with names and founding dates of Italian universities. The oldest is the University of Bologna, from 1088. At the front of the room, a bronze bust of Dante Alighieri faces a mural by Giovanni Romagnoli. The mural shows Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia, the first woman in the world to earn a university degree in 1678.

Japanese Classroom

Japanese Classroom

Location	Room 317
Dedicated	July 25, 1999
Style	Minka
Designer	Hirokazu Nagase, Kyoto
Architect	Norman Harai, A.I.A.

The Japanese Nationality Room celebrates traditional Japanese carpentry and woodcraft. It looks like a mid-18th century minka, which were homes of ordinary people in Japan. This room represents the home of an important village leader near Kyoto. It shows the main parts of the house: the ima (sitting room with a plank floor) and the doma (earthen floor area for entry, cooking, and work). The doma was also used for farm and craft activities.

A huge, rough-cut pine beam, called the ushibari, is a central feature. It is supported by posts at the edge of the ima and doma. This beam was saved by carpenters in Japan for many years until the right project came along. The main post sits directly above the building's support structure. The main posts are made of zelkova, a hardwood. Other beams are American pine. The posts and beams are connected without nails, using traditional Japanese methods. The ceiling is made of bamboo with joined beams, allowing warm air to circulate.

The walls look like traditional mud plaster walls, using textured wallpaper and wooden wainscoting for durability. The bay window, not traditional in Japan, is covered with panels that look like shôji (sliding doors with translucent paper). The ima has a plank wood floor. The front of the room has a simulated earthen floor for the doma area. The tokonoma on the back wall is a raised alcove for displaying special objects. It has shôji on its outer side. The corner post is ebony, and the tokonoma floor is tatami. Display cases hold artifacts like a chagama and furo (iron kettle and brazier) used in the "tea ceremony." While traditional minka had no chairs, this classroom has wooden chairs designed for students. Sliding wooden panels cover the blackboard. The entrance door looks like a typical sliding door from that period.

Korean Classroom

Korean Classroom

Location	Room 304
Dedicated	November 15, 2015
Style	Joseon Dynasty
Architect	Minah Lee, Seoul

The Korean Nationality Room is based on the 14th-century Myeong-nyundang (Hall of Enlightenment). This was the main building at the Sungkyunkwan in Seoul, Korea's royal academy from 918 to 1897. The room copies the three connected rooms of the Myeong-nyundang. Twin oak columns create a symbolic boundary. The central room has a high ceiling with two hand-carved phoenixes facing a symbolic pearl of wisdom. This design is inspired by the royal palace of the Joseon Dynasty.

Most of the room was built in Korea, then taken apart and shipped to Pittsburgh. Korean carpenters reassembled it in the Cathedral of Learning. They used traditional Korean building methods, without nails or screws. The room features hand-cut and engraved Douglas fir and red pine logs from South Korea. These have swirling designs based on traditional Korean architecture. Windows are covered with special paper made from mulberry tree fiber. A symbolic back door leads to a windowed bay facing Heinz Chapel. This door is like one in the Myeong-nyudang that leads to the Sungkyunkwan's courtyard.

The south wall displays three documents explaining the Hangul, or Korean alphabet. This alphabet was created by Sejong the Great in 1443. A display area shows a book about Crown Prince Hyomyeong entering Sungkyunkwan in 1817. Another area displays the Four Treasures of the Study: brush, ink, paper, and ink-stone. The room has freestanding, hard-oak desks designed for two to three students and laptops. It also has an 85-inch, 3-D LED screen and a central speaker system. This was the first nationality room built with such modern technology.

Lithuanian Classroom

Lithuanian Classroom

Location	Room 129
Dedicated	October 4, 1940
Style	Folk Motif
Architect	Antanas Gudaitis, Kaunas

The Lithuanian Classroom features a fresco of Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis' painting The Two Kings. This painting shows how much Lithuanians love their villages. The mural sets the mood for a room that celebrates Lithuanian folk art, nature, and home. The door's wooden planks are in a diamond pattern, like many farm buildings. A carved rosette, symbolizing fire, is in the center of the door. Above the entrance, a stylized sun between two horses' heads represents light and sound, believed to keep evil spirits away.

The white oak molding has intersecting scallops, like decorations on farm granaries. Names of famous Lithuanians are carved above the blackboard. The wall fabric is linen woven in a design called "The Path of the Birds." Its frame is made of white oak and rare bog oak. Bog oak gets its deep color from being submerged in a marshy bog for decades. Lithuanian farmers used to preserve trees this way to make treasured furniture.

The teacher's desk is modeled after a household table. The lectern includes details from a spinning wheel spindle. Student chairs are carved with a design found on household items. The radiator cover has a design of wild rue leaves, a Lithuanian national emblem. Traditionally, brides wear a wreath of rue, symbolizing purity. Windows of hand-pressed glass have leaded medallions shaped like sun ornaments, often seen on roadside shrines.

Norwegian Classroom

Norwegian Classroom

Location	Room 151
Dedicated	May 15, 1948
Style	Folk Motif
Architect	Georg Eliassen, Oslo

The Norwegian Classroom was designed in Oslo by architect Georg Eliassen. It uses an 18th-century peasant style with Norwegian building techniques and painted decorations. Plans for the room were sent on the last ship to leave Petsamo for the United States before World War II. University Architect Albert A. Klimcheck completed them.

The main walls are paneled with vertical, overlapping spruce boards, hand-rubbed with wax. The walls at the front of the room are soft blue with floral designs, like the 18th-century rosemaling technique. Since living and bedrooms were often combined then, two panels swing open to reveal the blackboard, as if they were built-in beds. The room has high, sloped ceilings, typical of Nordic peasant homes. These keep snow from piling up in winter. Spruce boards are laid in a herringbone pattern, slanting up to a flat section. This section is decorated with two hand-carved, painted rosettes, one symbolizing the midnight sun. Wooden chandeliers, with "1945" carved into them (the year the room opened), hang from the flat surfaces. The teacher's section has a lower, beamed ceiling.

A corner kleberstone fireplace marks the transition between the two parts of the room. Birch logs were burned standing up in it to ensure smoke went up the chimney. Windows are made of handmade, pale yellow glass. Since bay windows are not a Scandinavian tradition, this area is plastered, paved with slate, and treated as a traditional alcove. The student chairs have low backs. The teacher's chair is a typical Viking design with carved beast heads and a dragon motif. This dragon traditionally protects against evil.

The room has a century-old grandfather clock with an engraved dial. Its case matches the wall decorations. Above the back wall bench, a framed copy of a 1695 Norwegian woolen tapestry hangs. It shows the Biblical story of the five wise and five foolish virgins.

Philippine Classroom

Philippine Classroom

Location	Room 313
Dedicated	June 9, 2019
Architect	Warren Bulseco, U.S., and Melinda Minerva “Popi” Laudico, Philippines

Construction on the Philippine Nationality Room began on May 3, 2018. The design is based on a traditional bahay na bato. This means "house of stone," and it was a popular type of home in the Philippines during Spanish rule (mid-1500s to 1898). The room specifically looks like the inside of the Quema House in Vigan. Pittsburgh architect Warren Bulseco and Philippine architect Melinda Minerva “Popi” Laudico designed the room. Professor Fernando Zialcita, an expert on Philippine ancestral houses, advised the project. Filipino-American artist Eliseo Art Silva created paintings for the room.

The room has lattice-patterned capiz shell windows. These were a popular choice instead of glass in the Philippines because of frequent typhoons. The chairs have solihiya, which is rattan woven into a sunburst pattern. An etched silver Murano mirror from Europe and a bronze chandelier from the United States show how imported designs influenced Filipino culture.

Other artifacts display older, pre-colonial cultures. The Golden Tara is a Hindu sculpture that the Manobo tribe sees as a protective nature spirit. The Manunggul Jar, found at an ancient burial site, shows human figures traveling in a boat to the afterlife. The room's ceremonial key has mythological figures from the Meranao people of Mindanao: the serpent Naga and the bird Sarimanok.

Polish Classroom

Polish Classroom

Location	Room 126
Dedicated	February 16, 1940
Style	16th-century Polish Renaissance
Architect	A. Szyszko-Bohusz, Kraków

The Polish Classroom is inspired by rooms in Kraków's Wawel Castle, where kings lived for centuries. The Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus and his revolutionary theories are also a major theme. A copy of the famous Jan Matejko portrait shows Copernicus as a young man studying the universe. In the bay stands a large copy of the 16th-century Jagiellonian globe. This is one of the oldest globes to show North America as a separate continent. A metalsmith in Kraków took five years to make this large globe.

Artists from Kraków came to Pittsburgh to paint the 18-foot ceiling beams with geometric Renaissance decorations. A bronze chandelier with a stylized Polish eagle lights the room. The walnut seminar table is a copy of one in a dining room at Wawel Castle. The windows combine hexagonal handmade roundels, like those in Wawel Castle, with stained-glass coats of arms of Polish universities. The cornerstone is a piece of Gothic stone from the Collegium Maius (1369), the old Jagiellonian Library. Polish music is shown by the original manuscript of Ignace Paderewski's only opera, Manru, displayed in a cabinet.

Romanian Classroom

Romanian Classroom

Location	Room 130
Dedicated	May 16, 1943
Style	17th century Byzantine
Architect	N. Ghica-Budeşti, Bucharest

The Romanian Classroom was designed in Bucharest by Nicolae Ghica-Budeşti. The carved doorframe is like stone entrances of Romanian monasteries. It's made of American limestone, similar to Romanian limestone used in the royal palace at Bucharest. The entrance door is ornately carved oak, like doors in Byzantine churches in Romania. Words from Vasile Alecsandri, a 19th-century Romanian poet, are carved above the door. They say: "The Romanian is like the mighty rock which amidst the waves of the stormy and majestic sea forever remains unmoved."

The floor is made of square blocks of pink marble from Ruşchiţa. The blackboards are set in arched oak panels, carved like icon screens in Eastern Orthodox and Greek Catholic Romanian churches. These are separated by carved-twisted rope, showing the Roman origin of many Romanian artistic traditions. Ancient icons from Romania, depicting the Virgin and Child, Christ, and saints, are embedded in the upper part of each panel.

White paint mixed with color gives the smooth plastered walls a bluish-pink tint. A Byzantine-style mosaic on the back wall, a gift from the Romanian government, was made by Nora Steriade. It was originally part of the Romanian Pavilion at the 1939 New York World's Fair. The mosaic shows Constantin Brâncoveanu, a prince who refused to give up his Christian faith. The six windows have rounded Romanesque tops, reflecting traditions from Rome.

Two small window casements are deeply set. The four large center windows form an alcove, separated by wrought-iron gates made in Romania. A slab of polished marble tops the wrought-iron radiator grille. Yellow silk drapes frame the windows. Ancient icons are displayed in the alcove, like an icon shrine in an Orthodox Church. The student chairs are dark oak, hand-carved by Romanian peasant artisans. Each back panel has a different design. The teacher's reading desk is adapted from an Eastern Orthodox Church lectern.

Russian Classroom

Russian Classroom

Location	Room 153
Dedicated	July 8, 1938
Style	Byzantine and Folk Motifs
Designer	Andrey Avinoff, Tultchin

The Russian Classroom has folk decorations with traditional designs from Byzantium, which was a spiritual center for Russia. The seminar table is made of oak slabs with contrasting grain. The cut-out design is typical of large tables in the Vologda district. The back of each student's chair has a cross-shaped circle pattern with triangles. These triangles have symbols of regions or styles, like the reindeer for the tundra and the sturgeon for the Volga River. The teacher's chair has spirals and two peacocks worshipping the tree of life. The podium looks like the analoi used in Orthodox churches to hold large Bibles. The blackboard is designed like a triptych, a three-part frame for icons.

The blackboard doors are a wooden grille backed by red velvet. Above them is a carved panel with Sirin and Alcanost, two birds from Russian folklore that represent joy and sorrow. A low wainscot of simple horizontal oak boards surrounds the room. It includes the blackboard, a corner cupboard, and a kiot (a Slavic term for a wall frame treated as furniture). Inside the kiot hangs a vishivka (appliqué and embroidery) banner of Saint George, the patron saint of Moscow. The banner was made with pieces of 16th and 17th-century fabric from Venice and Paris. Words carved in Russian and English below the banner say: "Valorous youth victorious over forces of evil and darkness." A copy of the Avinoff family icon shows the saving of the city of Kitej from a Tartar invasion. The ceiling corners have designs like traditional Easter cakes, symbolizing the four seasons. A wrought iron chandelier was made by Russian-born Hyman Blum.

After a visit from Dmitry Medvedev in 2009, a display cabinet was added. It holds three gifts presented by the then Russian President.

Scottish Classroom

Scottish Classroom

Location	Room 139
Dedicated	July 8, 1938
Style	17th century
Architect	Reginald Fairlie, Edinburgh

The Scottish Classroom was designed by Reginald Fairlie of Edinburgh. It is in the style of the early 17th century. The woodwork is carefully chosen English pollard oak. Names of famous Scots are carved in the panels. These include David Livingstone, an explorer, Robert Louis Stevenson, who wrote Treasure Island, and Alexander Fleming, who discovered penicillin. Inscriptions above the doors and the back cabinet are from "The Brus" by the 14th-century Scottish poet John Barbour. The room's oak doors are copies of the entrance to Rowallan Castle.

A 16th-century Scottish proverb above the blackboard is known as "the Scottish Golden Rule." It says: "Gif Ye did as Ye sould Ye might haif as Ye would." The plaster frieze (decorative band) was adapted from Elcho Castle. It includes symbols of 14 Scottish clans that had members on the room committee. The thistle, Scotland's national flower, is shown as a tree-of-life on the cornerstone. The overmantel of the Scottish sandstone fireplace has a portrait of poet Robert Burns. Above the portrait is the cross of St. Andrew, Scotland's patron saint. Bronze statues on the mantel are small copies of heroic statues at Edinburgh Castle. They represent Sir William Wallace and Robert the Bruce, famous freedom fighters.

Medallions in the bay windows show the coats of arms of the four ancient Scottish universities. Other medallions show Elgin and Melrose Abbeys, which were learning centers. The drapes are made of crewel-embroidered linen. The room's lights are inspired by an iron coronet in Edinburgh's John Knox Museum. This coronet was found on the battlefield of Bannockburn, where Scotland won independence in 1314. Student seats look like a chair that belonged to John Knox. An old Scottish church provided the pattern for the reading stand. The back cabinet, like a weapon closet, holds artifacts such as pewter and china used at Soutar's Inn, where Robert Burns often visited. The carvings on the doors and cabinets were done in Edinburgh by Thomas Good. The cabinetwork was done by Gustav Ketterer of Philadelphia. Wrought ironwork was done by Samuel Yellin. Carved into stone above the doorways are the thistle and the Lion Rampant, Scotland's emblem.

Swedish Classroom

Swedish Classroom

Location	Room 135
Dedicated	July 8, 1938
Style	Folk Motif
Architect	Linton R. Wilson
Adviser	Carl Milles, Stockholm

The Swedish Classroom looks like a peasant cottage and has murals painted by Olle Nordmark. The special part of the room is the paintings on the back wall. These four framed paintings were inspired by panels done by the 18th-century painter Gustav Reuter. Linton Wilson found the original panels at the Nordic Museum.

The hooded brick fireplace is copied from one in the Bollnäs Cottage at Skansen, a famous outdoor museum in Stockholm. The bright white walls and fireplace are made of 200-year-old handmade bricks. The fire tools were hand-made by Ola Nilsson, a Swedish blacksmith. He recreated tools used in his childhood home in Sweden.

A subtle sense of humor is shown in the room's paintings. A wall fresco shows the Three Wise Men dressed as cavaliers riding to Bethlehem, but going in two directions. In the middle is Sweden's patron saint, St. Catherine. The sloped ceiling has decorations where the main figure is the Archangel Gabriel, shown as a funny trumpeter with two left feet. Nearby are Justice and Knowledge surrounded by flowers. Justice uses her blindfold to hold scales that look balanced but are off-center. Knowledge seems confused as she writes on her slate with a quill pen.

The furniture and woodwork were done by Erik Jansson of Philadelphia. The classroom's oak furniture is stained a muted gray-blue, like old Swedish homes. Floral designs in colors that match the amber fir wall benches brighten the door and archive cabinet. The red brick floor is laid in a herringbone pattern.

Swiss Classroom

Swiss Classroom

Location	Room 321
Dedicated	April 22, 2012
Style	Late Medieval Style circa 1500
Designer	Justin Rüssli, Lucerne
Architect	Stephen Altherr

The Swiss Classroom is modeled after a 15th-century room from Fraumunster Abbey, displayed in the Swiss National Museum in Zurich. The room is paneled in pine wood. It has four white oak trestle tables and four display cases. These represent the four languages of Switzerland: French, German, Italian, and Romansch. Twenty-six country-style chairs have painted carvings of symbols from Switzerland's cantons (regions). These cantons united in 1291 to form the Swiss Confederation. Richard Sink crafted the furniture and woodwork.

A main feature of the room is a copy of a cocklestove. This stove is modeled on an oven from Schloss Wülflingen Castle. The cocklestove's decorated tiles have several painted Swiss designs. These include animals, plants, edelweiss, the Graaf family emblem, and a picture of the Swiss legend of William Tell. The windows are leaded and feature three stained-glass shields of the original Swiss cantons, as well as the Swiss Cross.

The Swiss Cross is also on a stone above the door, in the door's window, and on the lectern. The lectern is modeled on a 17th-century schoolmaster's desk. A carved and painted frieze shows Swiss plants and animals. An old map shows Switzerland by its ancient Latin name, "Helvetia." Portraits on the back wall, in the style of Hans Holbein the Younger, show Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi. The wood-beamed ceiling has hidden LED lights behind rosettes.

Syria-Lebanon Room

Syria-Lebanon Room

Location	Room 160
Dedicated	June 28, 1941
Style	18th century Damascus
Architect	unrecorded

The Syria-Lebanon Room was originally a library built in 1782 in a wealthy merchant's home in Damascus. It was moved piece by piece to the Cathedral of Learning. This took six years of fundraising and effort by the Syrian and Lebanese communities in Pittsburgh. Because the furniture is so old and valuable, the room is not used for classes. It is one of two display rooms.

The linden-paneled walls and ceilings are decorated with “gesso painting.” This is a mix of chalk and glue applied in detailed relief, then painted and covered with silver and gold leaf. The room has a mihrab (a niche in a mosque wall) with a stalactite vault. This traditionally held the Koran and a prayer rug. Book cabinets and display shelves are built into the walls. An old mosque lamp lights the room. It is made of perforated copper with handblown glass wells that once held oil, water, and wicks.

The sofas, from the Arabic word "suffah," are covered in satin. They rest on a dark red and white marble base. The marble floor slopes down at the entrance, where visitors would remove their shoes. In 1997, a glass-paneled French-style door was added. This allows people to see the room from the hallway. The doors were designed after a grille pattern found on windows of an 18th-century room in the Islamic section of the Metropolitan Museum in New York City.

Turkish Classroom

Turkish Classroom

Location	Room 339
Dedicated	March 4, 2012
Style	Baş Odası circa 1400AD
Designer	Ömer Akın
Architect	Ömer Akın and John Cleary

The Turkish Nationality Room is based on a baş odası, or main room, of a typical Turkish house. It includes an outer gallery and a side iwan (a vaulted hall). The iwan is meant to be an entrance area, similar to the royal pavilion next to the Yeni Mosque in Istanbul. This pavilion was built in 1663 for Sultan Mehmet IV. In the iwan of the Turkish Nationality Room, four ceramic panels represent different cultures and times in Turkish history.

The largest ceramic is a portrait of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder and first president of the Republic of Turkey. He is shown teaching the nation the Turkish alphabet adopted in 1928. Other panels show Uighur princesses, representing the importance of women in 9th-century Turkish culture. There's also a copy of "Two merchants in conversation" by Mehmed Siyah Kalem, showing realism in Turkish drawing around the 14th century. Another panel shows Suleiman the Magnificent and Şehzade Cihangir, representing the peak of Ottoman power in the 16th century.

The main room aims to show democracy. Its seating is arranged around the edges, suggesting that everyone is equal. Hardwood seats look like divan-style seating. Their back panels work as writing tablets. When pulled back, they form a "parted curtain" design, common for household wall niches. The room's ceiling is modeled after a summer house in Safranbolu. It uses traditional çitakâri and kündekâri carpentry. These methods create complex geometric patterns using small pieces of wood without metal fasteners or glue. Clear glass windows along one wall frame a painted mural. It shows a panoramic view of Istanbul, similar to what's seen in the mirrored room of the Topkapi Palace. The stained glass windows have a tulip shape, a symbol of the Ottomans in the 18th century. Display cases hold historic examples of Turkish calligraphy, ceramics, jewelry, miniatures, and textiles, as well as an evil eye. The symbol above the outer door shows the current flag of Turkey, adopted in 1936.

Ukrainian Classroom

Ukrainian Classroom

Location	Room 341
Dedicated	June 17, 1990
Style	17th–18th century Ukrainian Baroque
Designer	Lubomyr E. Kalynych
Architect	Walter R. Boykowycz, A.I.A.

The Ukrainian Classroom is designed in Baroque style. It has richly carved wood, colorful ceramics, and detailed metalwork. It's an adaptation of a nobleman's reception room from the 17th-18th century. The entrance has a unique trapezoidal shape with carved designs of water, wheat, and sunflowers. The inscription above the door celebrates Ukraine's millennium of Christianity (988–1988). The stove tiles show festival practices and daily life. A pokutia, or place of honor, is marked by benches and traditional icons. These icons include St. Nicholas, the Mother of God, Christ the Teacher, and St. George.

The chalkboard doors have the Tree of Life design. Above them are three Cyrillic alphabets used in Ukraine over centuries. On the right wall, a copper bas-relief shows the development of Ukrainian culture. It portrays cultural centers, historical figures, rituals, and the evolution of Ukrainian ornament. The large crossbeam has detailed carvings, including a protective solar symbol. It also has a quote from Ukraine's poet Taras Shevchenko (1814–1861): "Learn, my brothers! Think and read ... Learn foreign thoughts, but do not shun your own country!" Beyond the wooden posts, which look like a gallery, a display case holds traditional Ukrainian art and crafts.

Welsh Classroom

Welsh Classroom

Location	Room 342
Dedicated	June 1, 2008
Style	18th century Non-Conformist chapel
Architect	Martin Powell, Katherine Horstman, Richard Freeman, Yaso Snyder

The Welsh Classroom took a long time to be created, with requests for a Welsh room dating back to the 1930s. The room, located on the third floor, is designed like the Pen-rhiw Chapel in St Fagans National History Museum near Cardiff. It represents a traditional 18th-century Welsh capel, or chapel, which was often the center of village life. During this period, the English ruled Wales and required English to be the official language in courts and churches. To worship in their native Welsh language, and inspired by the non-conformist movement, Welsh people met in secret places like barns or homes. This simple, white-walled capel in the Nationality Room reflects that.

The minister would live at one end, shown by a display case with Welsh kitchen items. A tall oak clock sits on a Welsh slate base opposite the main blue door. This clock, important in Welsh homes, has a painted face that spells "Richard Thomas" instead of numbers, suggesting he made and owned it. The bay window is the focus of the Welsh chapel worship. It includes a raised blue pulpit with a view of the congregation and two Deacon's benches.

At the other end of the room is a table with a lectern. These worship places often became school rooms for children and adults during weekdays. Above the chalkboard is the Lord's Prayer, written in Welsh. Pine pew benches face the lectern. Along the wall, larger, more comfortable blue-painted pew boxes with wooden floors were for wealthier families. These often also served as barn cattle stalls. Families would sometimes bring straw, blankets, hot bricks, or dogs to keep warm. To show the simplicity of these meeting places, the ceiling beams are made of poplar. The flooring suggests a typical dirt floor. The carved stone dragon over the doorway, a long-time Welsh national symbol, represents the legendary victory of the Red Dragon over the White Dragon. It symbolizes the triumph of Good over Evil.

Yugoslav Classroom

Yugoslav Classroom

Location	Room 142
Dedicated	March 31, 1939
Style	Folk Motif
Architect	Vojta Braniš, Zagreb

The Yugoslav Classroom was designed by Professor Vojta Braniš, a sculptor and director of the Industrial Art School in Zagreb. The walls are paneled in Slavonian oak. They are hand-carved with geometric figures and the old Slavonic heart design. This type of carving, called "notch-carving," was traditionally done by peasants with a penknife. On the hallway wall is a special coat of arms with a double-headed eagle. This symbolizes the religious influences of the Eastern Empire of Byzantium and Western Empire of Rome. It also shows the founding dates of universities in Belgrade, Ljubljana, and Zagreb.

The ceiling is carved with detailed Croatian, Slovenian, and Serbian folk motifs. The wooden chandeliers are similar to those in the White Palace in Belgrade. The teacher's chair and guest chairs were carved by students in Zagreb. Each spindle on the chairs has a different notched design. By the window, a bronze sculpture by Vojta Braniš, "Post-War Motherhood," shows a barefoot mother nursing her child. She protected the child during long months of war. In the display cabinet is a lace picture of the Madonna of Brežje. This took six months to make and was inspired by a story of a lace Madonna created by villagers during World War I. The ceiling squares have alternating ornaments like flowers, stars, and the sun.

Above the paneled walls, six portraits show important Yugoslavs. On the front wall are Vuk Stefanović Karadžić, who created the Serbian dictionary, and Bishop Josip Juraj Strossmayer, known for his efforts to unite Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches. On the hallway wall are Baron George von Vega, a Slovenian mathematician, and Petar Petrović Njegoš, a prince-bishop of Montenegro famous for his poetry. On the back wall are Rugjer Bošković, a Croatian scientist, and France Ksaver Prešeren, a great Slovenian poet.

The Yugoslav Classroom's committee was first formed in 1926. Famous Croatian sculptor Ivan Meštrović supported the Classroom. He gave two of his works to the University: a bust of Mihajlo Pupin and a self-portrait. The Classroom was designed to show the culture and traditions of the Yugoslavs. This included people from various regions like Croatians, Dalmatians, Slavonians, Slovenians, Serbians, Bosnians, and Montenegrins.

Future Rooms

The University has two more Nationality Room Committees that are currently raising money and designing new rooms.

These proposed rooms include:

• Finnish
• Iranian
• Thai

Past plans for Danish, Latin American, Moroccan, and Caribbean rooms have been stopped.

Images for kids

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  Austrian Room

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  Chinese Room

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  Czechoslovak Room

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  Hidden upstairs bedroom of the Early American Room

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  German Room

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  Hungarian Room

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  Italian Room

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  Scottish Room

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  Swiss Room

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  Turkish Classroom

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  Yugoslav Room

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  Russian President Dmitry Medvedev meets with students in the Russian Room on September 24, 2009.