Cathedral of Learning - References in Popular Culture and Student Life

References in Popular Culture and Student Life

• In Gwyn Cready's comedic romance novel, Tumbling Through Time, the hero, Magnus Knightley, is a visiting professor whose office is on the 32nd floor of the Cathedral of Learning. Several scenes in the book take place in the Cathedral.

• The Cathedral of Learning is described in Michael Chabon's novel The Mysteries of Pittsburgh.

• In Bethesda Softwork's Fallout 3: The Pitt, the Cathedral of Learning appears as the headquarters of the rulers of a post-apocalyptic Pittsburgh.

• The Cathedral of Learning was profiled on John Ratzenberger's Made in America TV show on the Travel Channel.

• The Cathedral is sometimes referred to by Pitt students as the "drunken compass" due to its prominence of visibility throughout the neighborhood of Oakland that is used to guide students returning from parties back to the dorms or apartments.

• Along with the Early American Nationality Room, and the Croghan-Schenley Ballroom, the Cathedral Café food court on the ground level is purported to be haunted.

• Portions of the movie Roommates (1995), starring D. B. Sweeney, Peter Falk and Julianne Moore and directed by Peter Yates, were filmed in the Cathedral of Learning, including room 324.

• Richard Gere's character in The Mothman Prophecies (2002) appears in a scene where he is sitting on a bench on the Cathedral of Learning lawn.

• The Cathedral of Learning can be seen in backdrop of the graduation scene, filmed on the lawn of Soldiers and Sailors Memorial, for fictional Rosman University in the movie Sorority Row (2009). It can also be seen in the movie Wonder Boys (2000), a film adaptation of Pitt alumni Michael Chabon's novel of the same title, as well as in the original 1951 version of Angels in the Outfield.

• Artist Harry Scheuch painted the Cathedral of Learning during its construction in the 1930s as a series for the Public Works of Art Project. The works are now part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's exhibit entitled "1934: A New Deal for Artists".

• In one of the most famous photographs in baseball history by George Silk and published in Life magazine, students from the University of Pittsburgh are seen cheering on the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1960 World Series from their vantage atop the Cathedral of Learning high above Forbes Field.

• Assumption University in Thailand has constructed a 39-story, 522 feet (159 m) building that is modeled and named after the Cathedral of Learning and serves as the centerpiece of their Suvarnabhumi campus.

• The Cathedral of Learning features in the Chris Kuzneski's 2009 novel, The Prophecy.