Diana-Center

In past years, Hewitt Dining Hall has served as a vibrant and cozy space filled with natural light and much conversation among students and professors. Events such as Big Sub and Midnight Breakfast brought the student body together to celebrate and enjoy food. However, amid the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing measures in place, Barnard Dining has been forced to adapt as students returned to campus this spring.

It only takes a stroll through the neighborhood to understand film’s place in Harlem’s history. The Jets of 1961′s “West Side Story” patrolled 110th Street, Denzel Washington’s titular character hung out at the—now-defunct—Lenox Lounge in 1992′s “Malcolm X,” and the quirky Tenenbaum family resided at a house on the corner of 144th Street and Covenant Avenue in “The Royal Tenenbaums.” A walk around the 125th Street area holds both the grand past of Harlem film and present-day big-name cinema with the remains of the Loew’s Victoria Theater and the current AMC Magic Johnson Harlem 9.

After months of YouTube workouts, chilly runs, and reorganizing dorm rooms and childhood bedrooms to make space for a yoga mat or weights, Columbia students will soon have another option. Dodge Fitness Center will reopen for limited student use for the first time in over 10 months on Tuesday. The Dodge reopening will begin with a maximum capacity of 320 online reservations per day, a fraction of its typical usage.

As the spring term begins, thousands of Columbia students have returned to campus. Despite facing economic challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, many local galleries and art-related businesses continue to offer a diverse array of artistic experiences for Columbia students, ranging from exhibitions confronting the pressing issues of race and gender inequalities to craft and pottery workshops that provide an opportunity to step away from the screen and into the studio.

Just 11 days after ushering in the new year, Columbia students have returned to campus for the spring semester. Whether you don’t want to give up on your hastily-scribbled New Year’s resolutions or you’re an athlete twiddling your thumbs as you anticipate your return to the field, there are many reasons you may want to start working out now.

Halfway through the interview with Dr. Raymond Givens, two young boys materialize through the slightly-pixelated Zoom virtual background displaying the stoic face of the rapper Biggie Smalls. The little one pops cheerfully through the famous rapper’s mouth, waving a tiny green toy at the camera, and the taller one comes running through the rapper’s tilted plastic crown, grinning cheekily and tugging at his father’s surgical scrubs. Givens, smiling at his sons and not at all fazed by the distraction, smoothly introduces his six-year-old, Lucas, and his two-year-old, Nicholas, pausing momentarily to swoop Nicholas into his lap and put his arm around Lucas’ shoulder. Givens gently corrals them out of the room, apologizes for the interruption, and without missing a beat, returns to the discussion of his efforts to change the name of Bard Hall.

A massive installation created from brown butcher paper weaves throughout the lobby of Barnard’s Milstein Center for Teaching and Learning. It encases three television screens featuring videos of six women of color sharing experiences of their “stuff” being taken away. Alongside the installation, archival materials, including photos and manuscripts, are displayed.

From securing necessary equipment to shooting films under new social distancing guidelines, it has been more difficult than ever for student filmmakers to begin projects. However, Barnard’s Instructional Media Technology Services—Columbia student filmmakers' one-stop shop for everything media technology related—is still operating remotely to help students stay creative.

For the past 15 years, Maysles Documentary Center has honed its marquees to deliver films that tell untold stories by unheard people, both on a local and global scale.