Planetarium Reopening Signals New Era of Immersive Learning at UA Little Rock

As the University of Arkansas at Little Rock prepares to reopen its newly renovated planetarium in fall 2026, excitement is building across campus for the return of a beloved landmark and the possibilities it represents for the future of science and community connection. Thanks to a $1.2 million gift from Leslye Shellam honoring her late father, Arkansas business leader L. Dickson Flake, the Shellam Flake Planetarium will soon reopen after nearly two decades. But for faculty and students, the reopening is about far more than renovation and technology upgrades. It signals a new era of immersive, interdisciplinary learning. For Dr. Gregory Guisbiers, associate professor of physics and astronomy, the planetarium represents a fundamental shift in how students experience complex scientific ideas. "What excites me most is the opportunity to transform how students experience physics," Guisbiers said. "The planetarium allows abstract ideas -- whether dynamical systems in classical mechanics or quantum state evolution in quantum computing -- to become immersive and intuitive." In fields such as quantum computing, many ideas are highly abstract. Guisbiers envisions the planetarium as a...

Source: https://ualr.edu/news/2026/02/24/planetarium-reopening-signals-new-era-of-immersive-learning-at-ua-little-rock/