Penn State in Second Life

I had known Penn State University had a presence in Second Life for a while, but this article (courtesy of Ms. Cathy Anderson) hinted at a deeper immersion than I had previously seen, as well as something of a replica of the campus. I dragged sister Kathy with me and set out for campus.



The buildings are really more of a flavor of the style of architecture on the RL campus, rather than an attempt at a brick-by-brick replication. (Readers may recall a recent-ish campus visit.) Nonetheless, it does evoke the real thing. And there's the Nittany Lion shrine:


Just outside the campus, on College Avenue, stands Ye Olde College Diner, with its amazing grilled stickies. Sure enough, wander inside the Diner in SL and find...

...grilled stickies, packaged and waiting to go! (Clicking on the sign to the right of the stickies takes one to the Diner's web site, where an order form awaits. Go ahead, visit and click.)


The Creamery is another campus institution, recently relocated to a larger building. The structure below does a fair job of evoking the Creamery and its fattening but delicious concoctions.


I still don't know how one would hold a class in this kind of environment, where 30 people generally bring a sim to its knees, and no one - student or teacher - attends under her real name, but I admire the university's willingness to try something new.