About Urbana-Champaign
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The twin cities of Urbana-Champaign lie in the center of one of the world's great prairies. Surrounded by agrarian bounty, Urbana-Champaign is home to a diverse and cosmopolitan population of over 100,000 people, including 26,400 undergraduate and 9,000 graduate and professional students. Each year more than 4,000 international students enroll at the University, including nearly 2,000 students from various parts of Asia.

The community boasts a remarkable variety of cultural and recreational facilities. The Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, often rated one of the finest performing arts facilities in the nation, offers a wealth of musical and theatrical performances (recent features have included Yo-Yo Ma, Goto Midori and Japanese Kodo drummers). The Krannert Art Museum's collection is renowned as the best in Illinois after the Art Institute in Chicago. Japan House, nestled in extensive gardens and housing a variety of cultural and educational programs on Japanese culture, was completed in 1998. The Beckman Institute for Advanced Studies brings together scientists and psychologists, linguists, sociologists and humanities scholars for interdisciplinary research on human and artificial intelligence. And the Intramural Physical Education Building (IMPE) is the world's largest structure for intramural sports and other athletic activities. IMPE is now being completely renovated to reflect contemporary trends in exercise and recreation.

Coffee shops, bookstores, and a wide variety of restaurants (including Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Thai) are scattered around the campus within easy walking distance from the Department. Further afield lies one of the finest public park systems in the State of Illinois and a mass transit system (free for registered students) that is consistently rated one of the best in the nation. A pleasant two- or three-hour drive will take you to Chicago, Indianapolis, or St. Louis and the museums, libraries, restaurants, and other amenities of those major metropolitan centers. You can take the train directly from Champaign to downtown Chicago or catch a plane at the University's Willard Airport for fast and easy connections to anywhere in the world.

Urbana-Champaign is a vibrant, diverse place where world-class research and rich cultural opportunities combine to yield an intensely intellectual community that still retains all the virtues of small town life.