New York City
The city of New York provides more than a dynamic summer backdrop for students at Columbia University. As a global center for industries as diverse as finance, communications, fashion, entertainment, and publishing, the city offers students opportunities that contrast and compliment their studies. As a locus for the arts, nonprofit organizations, and cultural institutions recognized both nationally and internationally, the city provides a diversity of experience that can enrich any student’s summer.
Your summer can take on a unique breadth and energy in New York. Within any field there are individuals and groups working within institutions and participating in events that connect them with their fellow practitioners, city residents and the many visitors. The city itself is a network of networks, creating and revealing unparalleled opportunities for engaged students and professionals who are already enriched by their membership in the Columbia community.
Arts & Culture
Frank Sinatra was right when he labelled New York City "the city that doesn’t sleep" in "New York, New York." The description certainly holds true if you are interested in the arts, culture or entertainment. Broadway cuts straight through the heart of the city, and Columbia’s Morningside Heights campus provides a perfect place to step out onto this famous avenue and begin exploring. You can see performances in world famous venues such as Lincoln Center and Madison Square Garden. Countless museums and installations throughout the city will give you your fill of local, national and world culture whether you are studying art, history or conservation. And when you are overwhelmed with the multitude of possibilities, the New York Public Library provides a notable location to stop and investigate them.
Finance
The New York Stock Exchange. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York Arturo Di Modica's Charging Bull on Wall Street. A museum dedicated to American finance. New York City eats, sleeps and breathes finance and many banks and lending institutions are headquartered here. There are fellowship programs to investigate, unique private/public partnerships to witness, and the chance to see international finance play out at home.
Conservancy
The constantly evolving landscape of New York City has fostered a strong commitment to conservancy and preservation of the natural landscapes and history of the urban environment. In New York, there are chances to visit national monuments, like the Statue of Liberty; museums devoted to key moments in social history, like the New York Tenement Museum; and National Parks such as Central Park and community-based repurposing projects like The High Line, all a short journey from Columbia.
Technology
With the boom in internet culture and social networking, New York City has emerged as an East Coast rival to Silicon Valley. The some of the largest internet companies, including Google and Facebook, have installations here and have had an impact on the surrounding community. They are beacons of the future in the middle of a city founded on traditional industries. From individuals looking to change the world by collaborating, like the people behind HackNY, to people seeing the chance to come together with sites like MeetUp.com, the people voicing their opinions all over the internet are often right here in New York, getting together in coworking spaces and taking advantage of an urban environment that supports people driven by their ideas.
The opportunities to engage and connect with the city and your fellow students are limited only by your time here for the summer. Experience and engage in the fields of communications, medicine, athletics, education, city planning, international relations, journalism, and more on the campus and in the City.