Culture

Heads up, folks: New York is a city for English (and Humanities) majors if there ever was one! Take advantage of its offerings, many of them free or cheap (especially to college students)! Look around when you attend a museum or library exhibit—not only at what’s being covered, but at who’s working there, what ages they are, what professions are involved, etc.

Talk to educators and docents: are there any internships available? summer jobs? what training do they have? (Look on “Human Resources” and “Job Opportunities” pages.) There are lots of places where English majors might find themselves stumped, but NYC is not one of them! Explore! A random sampling of places to check for internships (go for deep pockets): Natural History Museum, New York Historical Society, Tenement Museum, Morgan Library, any library, any museum, Penguin Random House , Norton, any foundation. And keep in mind the PR department of any place you look at: these places hire people who can communicate well in writing!!! If you’re interested in specifically business writing possibilities, talk to Professor Cleland, who will help you broaden your horizons! 

Not sure of what to do with all your free time when classes aren’t in session? Use the following Lehman College websites to find something close to home or in the city: 

Lehman Art Gallery and events
Lehman's Music, Multimedia, Theater and Dance programs
The Meridian
Obscura
The Bronx Journal
Lehman Stages
Arts & Humanities

Keep in mind, that you pay-what- you-want at the Metropolitan Art Museum (i.e., you can pay $1 instead of the “suggested price,”), that you can get student seating for $25 at almost any classical concert at Lincoln Center, and that many museums have “college student nights” and generally late nights on Fridays and Saturdays. (The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) has a free Friday night for anyone, so long as you’re willing to wait in line at 5:00.) 

Scroll down this list to see the museums that offer FREE admission to CUNY students.

Check the web-pages for New York Public Library. The main library on 5th Avenue and 42nd St. is a treasure with great exhibits and FREE literary events. Other favorite places for bookworms to check occasionally include the Morgan Library, the Jewish Museum, the Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture, El Museo del Barrio, the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA), the Poets House, the New Museum, and many others!  

For theater and dance performance buffs, remember that Lehman College has a partnership with the Theatre Development Fund (TDF). For as low as $10 for your first year of membership, you have access to hugely discounted Broadway, Off- Broadway, and Off-Off Broadway tickets.

Also, if you ever want to see an opera or ballet at Lincoln Center, show up at a box office on a weekday with your student ID and see what you can get—usually something amazing for incredibly cheap! Many institutions, including the Metropolitan Opera have fabulous student deals (they want to grow their audiences!): click on a site, look for “college student” information, and use your phone to sign up for alerts and free/cheap tickets!

Finally, do not forget Shakespeare in the Park. Every summer, the Public Theater does two plays for FREE—and these performances can be unbelievable.

Free digital access to The New York Times is available to all CUNY staff, faculty and students, thanks to the University’s Office of Library Sciences. Anyone with an email address ending in cuny.edu (or cuny.tv) can sign up for an academic pass for free access. To claim your academic pass: (1) Go to nytimes.com/passes or click the green button above (opens in new window). (2) Click on Register and follow the instructions to create a nytimes.com account using your Lehman email address. (3) At the bottom of the Welcome page, click Continue. (4) You will then see a Check Your Email message. Look for a "Confirm Your Email Address" message, which should arrive to your Lehman email within 15 minutes. If you do not get a confirmation email, check your spam filter. If you still do not receive it, send an email from your Lehman email account to edu@nytimes.com. (5) Click on the link in the confirmation email to activate your subscription. (6) Once you have created an account, use your Lehman email address to log in to your account at nytimes.com. Your academic pass provides you access to nytimes.com and New York

Times smartphone apps that can be downloaded from nytimes.com/mobile or for free from your service's app store. Your subscription will last 52 weeks (364 days) from your sign-up date and can be renewed again for free with your CUNY email address next year.

 Many of you find out about wonderful cultural opportunities and events in your travels around the city. Share them with the EHP via email: someone in the group always takes advantage of such notices!