New York is the concentrate of art and commerce and sport and religion and entertainment and finance, bringing to a single compact arena the gladiator, the evangelist, the promoter, the actor, the trader and the merchant. It carries on its lapel the inexpugnable odor of a long past, so that no matter where you sit in New York you feel the vibrations of great times and tall deeds, of queer people and events and undertakings."

These are the words of E.B.White in his famous essay, Here Is New York White wrote them in 1949 and yet, his words still ring true today.

The New York term is indeed an exploration of White’s vision of New York. Within the framework of cultural and metropolitan studies the program is offered each fall semester at Friends World Headquarters on the Brooklyn Campus of Long Island University. The Brooklyn Campus is located in the very heart of Brooklyn, just off the Brooklyn Bridge that connects this widely diverse community to New York City. Brooklyn itself is a thriving community and a vanguard for the arts.

The program introduces students to the study of urban and metropolitan issues; including population diversity, cultural activity, economic and political perspectives. Students learn through a combination of experiential seminars and traditional classes along with service learning and a chance to do independent study. The core class, the Friends World City Seminar, is an experiential course that is created in collaboration with students. The purpose of the seminar is to attain an intimate knowledge of metropolitan New York and Brooklyn through exploration of neighborhoods, meeting people from diverse backgrounds, field visits and service learning. Together students and faculty design experiences that explore questions, such as: What makes a good city? How do people define the culture of the city and how does the city define the culture of the people?

The seminar is complemented by courses taught at the Brooklyn LIU urban campus in areas such as social anthropology, cultural history, urban studies, creative arts and writing. Students may also elect to carry out a guided independent study or take an additional course of their choice. Service learning is an essential part of the program. Students are privileged to interact with local community members through grassroots organizations and make global connections through national and international institutions. Some organizations where students have worked in the past include:

• The Metropolitan Museum of Art
• The Brooklyn Museum
• Southside Mission ( immigrant rights)
• Chinese American Planning Council
• Congressional office of Charles B. Rangel, 15^th District
• Vera Institute of Justice
• Rope-a –Dope Music Productions
• The Amato Opera
• The Nuyorican Poets Café
• Human Rights Watch
• Interfaith Center for Peace and Justice
• Brooklyn Botanical Gardens
• The Village Voice

Students have a number of housing options that include: living in the on- campus dormitory, off-campus student residences, rooms in private homes and sharing apartments.

Metropolitan New York is undoubtedly one of the most interesting places in the world where students learn about themselves as they learn about others.