Glasgow University is renting out a cinema to teach classes

Probably the most boring reason to go to the cinema since Justice League came out

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It’s hard trying to get to uni for the day. No matter how you make your way in, it can be tough work trudging to your lecture, especially that brutal 9am you couldn’t get out of. Then, you get to campus and you’re sat in a room often with a strange smell, ancient décor and the sound of building work nearby. For some lucky students, this won’t be the case. Instead, they will be sitting in a different theatre for their class – a movie theatre.

This may be one of the stranger things to come out of Glasgow Uni’s colossal blunder. After the University majorly oversubscribed in students this year, the fallout has included students not being guaranteed accommodation or more recently being told to drop out after term started, and now whole classes are being sent to the Grosvenor Cinema on Ashton Lane for lectures. Students, myself included, are being timetabled in “Grosvenor Cinema:101” just a short walk from University Avenue, despite the timetable calling it “on campus”.

The theatres have an art deco theme, duly fitting in with the infamous Glasgow Uni ‘slightly snobbish’ motif. The cinema, like most cinemas, carries popcorn, alcoholic drinks, regular drinks, and snacks. Although my class is 11-12 in the Grosvenor in November, I might have to take a pint in just because I can… So stay tuned for that one.

I don’t know about you, but I actually don’t mind them using the cinema as a lecture location too much. Cinema seats are usually pretty comfy (and I know from past experiences that the Grosvenor ones aren’t too bad at all), they have good acoustics, and who doesn’t love a field trip?

My one bugbear maybe is the lack of table space for making notes. There is some room between seats to pop a drink or snack down but you could not count on it for table space. My recommendation, therefore, is to write on a laptop if you can or bring a hardback book to lean a notebook on your lap if you’re lucky enough to get a class in the cinema.

Is this the strangest place you’ve heard of a class being held? Do you think this is cool or kinda bad? Let us know your thoughts on Instagram to @thetab_glasgow.

A spokesperson for University of Glasgow said: “Our ongoing campus redevelopment plan has recently added a state-of-the-art learning centre and the Advanced Research Centre to our learning and teaching capacity. We are making use of a few teaching rooms close to campus while refurbishment work is underway across our campus.”

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