We are currently building out a National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) exhibit for the Speculative Futures tours based on a selection of BCL and UIUC alum (Class of ’68) Paul Schroeder’s materials, which he graciously donated to our project.

The exhibit features copies of student-produced BCL publications from the late 1960s and early 1970s and supporting materials for them on a table, with local activist flyers Paul collected from 1970 and the following years arranged on an adjacent board. The flyers range from environmentally-aware political organizing to mobilization over campus free speech and campus recruitment by corporations aiding the war effort.

The exhibit also includes materials Paul collected surrounding his Centennial convocation speech as a student speaker, which generating controversy over its criticism of the university in echoing the sentiments of the education reform movement at the time.

The exhibit was presented to those taking part in the weekend-long Speculative Futures events on November 3, 2017 in the Software (Re)composition Lab located in NCSA 2107. The initial prototype for the exhibit, pictured on this page, was available for Professor of Modern Culture and Media at Brown University Wendy Chun’s campus visit on September 21, 2017.