Shenandoah Center for Immersive Learning
Mission
Shenandoah Center for Immersive Learning (SCIL) empowers others to create human-to-human connectivity within mixed realities, transforming ideas into living experiences through immersive technology. Founded at Shenandoah University, SCIL is an academic lab where students get hands-on experience working on real world projects.
Vision
We are preeminent pioneers of human-based mixed-reality learning...cultivating, empowering and nurturing the virtual workforce.
Values
We believe story is how humans perceive the world.
We empower individuals, organizations and institutions to share content in ways that transform knowledge into ... skill.
We believe genius is born of collaboration
We advocate for creating a level playing field for all people, supporting a culture of inclusion, mutual opportunity and respect in the virtual workspace
We value opportunities that expand accessibility and transcend geographical barriers
We foster human-to-human connectivity, transforming ideas into living experiences
We value playful work and learning
Contact Us
Dr. Anne Marchant
Director of the Division of Applied Technology
amarchan@su.edu
Dr. Mohammad Obeid
Assistant Professor of Virtual Reality
Virtual Reality Design Academic Program Coordinator
mobeid@su.edu
Explore our Current Projects
Constitutional Convention Debates
Shenandoah students, professors and the Shenandoah Center for immersive Learning (SCiL) are creating a virtual reality project that will transport participants back in time to the Constitutional Convention in 1787 and the debates that took place there among the Founding Fathers of the United States.
SCIL News & Announcements

VR Project Pilot Launch Blends History, Technology
Shenandoah University’s History and Virtual Reality (VR) Design Programs, in partnership with the Shenandoah Center for Immersive Learning (SCiL), held a pilot launch for a virtual reality project that transports participants back in time to the ... Continue Reading VR Project Pilot Launch Blends…

Shenandoah Seeks Participants for Global Game Jam
Shenandoah University is seeking creative minds to design, test and create a new game over the course of 48 hours during a Global Game Jam event from Friday, Jan. 31, to Sunday, Feb. 2. This is the second consecutive year that Shenandoah will serve ... Continue Reading Shenandoah Seeks Participants for Global…

First VR Debate Tournament Held At Shenandoah
Shenandoah University hosted what is believed to be the world’s first virtual reality collegiate debate tournament in mid-November, according to Assistant Professor of Media & Communication Matt Corr, Ph.D. "It is not surprising that we are the ... Continue Reading First VR Debate Tournament Held…
SCIL Virtual Reality Experience
MLK Virtual Reality Experience
Experience SCIL's latest project honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Immerse yourself in the “Atmosphere of Hate,” felt by African-Americans as they engaged in nonviolent protest to challenge segregation by sitting at a whites-only lunch counter in the late 1950s through Virtual Reality. As soon as you don the virtual reality viewer, you’ll feel as if you’re sitting with a group of young African-Americans as they work to integrate a lunch counter, against the jeers and verbal abuse of white patrons. Shenandoah University acting students, staff and local community members, including local high school students, act out the scene, which sparks immediate reactions for anyone who steps through the virtual reality portal.
The Atmosphere Of Hate: Experiencing A Civil Rights Era Sit-In
Fantastic!! Being in the middle of the confrontation brought tears to my eyes. It took those sterile news reports and articles I remember as a kid growing up in Boston, MA, where I wondered why couldn't these people get a sandwich like anybody else and turned them into a gut wrenching reality. Congratulations to the team that put this incredibly powerful experience together!"
—Jeremy Becker-Welts
I wanted to take a moment to say THANK YOU for the excellent display and interaction that we were able to host at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. The compliments have been pouring in and the experience was one that I personally found outstanding and immersive. What an amazing opportunity! Any other opportunity like this—consider me already sold, just let me know when! BRAVO, and thank you for thinking of the Alamo Drafthouse!
—Andy Gyurisin, Programming & Promotions Manager for the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema-Winchester
The Role-Player Workforce (RPW)
The Role-Player Workforce (RPW) will develop to meet the needs of immersive learning. A by-product of immersive learning will be the growth of a national workforce in role-players. This trend is already happening in reaction to the medical industry’s need for standardized patients, OSCE, and other human based training. The impact of Virtual Training upon the development of this workforce creates expanding opportunities for economically disadvantaged groups such as the elderly, veterans, and ESOL citizens. The RPW will build new techniques and best practices for professional role-players to engage learners in immersive world experiences. Shenandoah University has more than 5 years’ experience in training and deploying role-players at the highest level, working with entities including multiple divisions of the State Department, the United Nations, various hospitals, law enforcement, and regional fire departments.
Creating Hands-On Learning Opportunities through Simulation for Nursing and Health Professions Students
Role players, trained as actors in Shenandoah University's world-renowned Shenandoah Conservatory, through the Shenandoah Center for Immersive Learning (SCIL), help make medical simulation experiences unique. While the medical programs use mannequins in state-of-the-art and easily reconfigured simulation spaces, students also learn by working with acting students who role-play simulated patients. This arrangement allows medical students to interact with live patients before ever stepping foot on the job, and provides acting students with opportunities to practice their craft while still honing their skills. In addition to the role-player workforce, SCIL enhances the university's academic programs with 360 VR, augmented, and virtual reality technologies.
360 Video Learning at Shenandoah
The Shenandoah Center for Immersive Learning (SCIL) is part of the vanguard of storytelling and learning in the 360 video and virtual and augmented reality realms. SCiL productions are helmed by students and draw upon a role player workforce that includes Shenandoah Conservatory acting students. Through SCIL's efforts, students build a variety of valuable new skills, while telling stories in ways that make an immediate impact on a viewer. Take a look inside, and see the beginning of something extraordinary.
The Future Is Here!
Bachelor of Arts in Virtual Reality Design
The Virtual Reality Media Concentration is designed for students who plan to specialize in 360 video or AR/VR content production.
The Virtual Reality Digital Stages Concentration is designed for students who are interested in such careers as directing AR/VR productions or acting in AR/VR productions/simulations.
Bachelor of Science in Virtual Reality Design
The Virtual Reality Technology Concentration will prepare students for careers working as technical specialists and/or programmers in AR/VR or related fields.