Because of Columbia and its institutional neighbors, Morningside Heights has been called the American Acropolis. As you will see, the campus is entirely its own place, with a look and feel at once breathtakingly grand and comfortably intimate--"Just big enough," as one student put it. Its residence halls, fraternities, sports facilities, and even the green lawns of South Field--with their impromptu soccer and volleyball games--contribute to a distinct campus culture, just as do the building styles. Once on campus, you can go days without thinking of yourself as a New Yorker, but Columbia's main gates open up at Broadway on the west and Amsterdam Avenue on the east to new energy and opportunities.

LOW MEMORIAL LIBRARY
We begin our tour with Low Memorial Library (1). Despite its name, Low Library is not the library, but the nerve center of the University's administration. The Office of the President and the Office of the Provost are located inside, as is the Security Office. And, believe it or not, the crew team's practice rowing tanks are located in the basement. One of the most impressive features of Low Library is its domed rotunda. Lectures, receptions, and formal dinners are held under the dome, and noted author Salman Rushdie made his first public appearance here after going into hiding.

Exiting Low Library you will find yourself descending the Low steps onto Low Plaza (2). Low Plaza was intended to resemble a Greek amphitheater, which makes it ideal for outdoor concerts, performances, and culture shows. When the weather permits, hundreds of students flock to "The Steps" in order to congregate, sunbathe, and socialize (basically anything but study). The statue of Alma Mater was sculpted by Daniel Chester French, who is perhaps more famous for his sculpture of President Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., and the observant eye can see the similarities. Actually, even the visually impaired eye can probably see the similarities, for the statue looks not unlike Abe Lincoln wearing a dress.

HAMILTON HALL
Moving on to Hamilton Hall (3), you will be entering the heart of Columbia College. Hamilton Hall is named after Columbia's most famous dropout, Alexander Hamilton, who left Columbia after having completed most of his degree in order to fight in the American Revolution. Because Hamilton primarily houses small, seminar-size classrooms, it is an ideal location for the Core Curriculum courses, such as Literature Humanities, Contemporary Civilization, and Logic and Rhetoric, which are limited to no more than twenty-five students per class. Hamilton is also the home of the Admissions Office, the Financial Aid Office, and the Columbia College Dean's Office.

HARTLEY AND WALLACH
Before Hamilton lies the Van Amringe Quad, which is the home of Hartley and Wallach Halls (4 & 5) and John Jay Hall (6). The most distinctive feature of the Quad is the close proximity of a major academic building (Hamilton) and residence halls (Hartley-Wallach and John Jay.) The distance (or lack thereof) quickly spoils students who soon discover that they can wake up ten minutes before a class begins and still have time for a quick shower. Housing at Columbia is guaranteed for all four years, and Hartley and Wallach represent two of the twelve upperclass housing options. Hartley and Wallach are arranged in suites; students in each suite share a lounge, kitchen, and bathroom. John Jay Hall is one of three residence halls for first-year students; Carman Hall and Schapiro Hall are the other two. John Jay is also home to the University's Health Service and two dining halls (the larger of which can be seen through the windows to the right of the building's entrance). Incidentally, the hall's namesake was a Columbia grad and first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court as well as the co-author --- with his fellow Columbian, Alexander Hamilton --- of the Federalist Papers.

LION'S COURT
In front of John Jay sits Columbia's (thankfully) temporary building, Lion's Court (7), which currently holds the bookstore and Office of Student Activities, while our student center undergoes major overhaul. See (9) for more details.

BUTLER LIBRARY
Leaving Lion's Court, walk west toward Butler Library (8), the main library of the University. Before you get there, look left onto 114th Street. This block holds many of the fraternity and sorority houses at Columbia, as well as Healthwise, our health education and wellness program. Healthwise employs professional and peer educators committed to helping students with personal health and well-being. Continue on to Butler Library, which currently holds a third of the six-and-one half million books in the University's library system. The remaining four million or so books can be found in the twenty-two other libraries with specific areas of interest that dot the campus, including the Monell Engineering Library, one of the largest of its kind. Butler Library is also home to the Rare Book and Manuscript Library, which contains 24 million manuscripts, 500,000 rare books, the largest collection of early arithmetic books, and the mantelpiece from the home of Edgar Allen roe, where he is said to have composed "The Raven." One of the great traditions at Columbia takes place inside the library; each semester at the stroke of midnight on the night before the start of finals, undergraduates pack into the College Reading Room for a concert given by Columbia's infamous Marching Band. Butler is named after former Columbia University President Nicholas Murray Butler, who was, incidentally, the primary force behind the development of the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) now used in admissions at most colleges. The names and the 4uotations that appear throughout the exterior and interior of the library were selected by President Butler, and the majority of these works are still read in Columbia's Core classes.

ALFRED LERNER HALL
Continuing west brings you to the site of the new Alfred Lerner Hall (9), our student union, to be completed by 1999. The new building will hold an after-hours computer center, 1,500-seat auditorium with full theatrical stage, music rehearsal spaces, gourmet cafe, and much more. This area used to contain Ferris Booth Hall, which housed more than two hundred clubs and organizations, everything from a cappella groups to cultural organizations. Fortunately, all student groups have been relocated to sites throughout campus. WKCR, our own student-run FM radio station, is now located on 122nd Street. Not only is WKCR one of the best jazz stations in New York, but it was also the first FM radio station in the world. The Spectator, the daily student-run campus newspaper, has its brand-new permanent office on Broadway and 112th Street.

CARMAN HALL
Next door is Carman Hall (10), the largest of the first-year residence halls. Although Carman is perhaps the least aesthetically pleasing dorm, its entirely first year population gives the building a social atmosphere that can't be beat. Due to the similarity of students' class schedules, Carman and the other residence halls often foster an academic as well as a social community. Many of the floors in the thirteen-story building offer excellent views of the New York skyline. Conveniently, the dean's Office for the First-Year Student Program is located inside. Also located in the building is a computer terminal room, which provides students with access to E-mail, the Internet, and the World Wide Web.

FURNALD HALL
Head North and you will pass Furnald Hall (11), the senior residence that is now newly renovated.

JOURNALISM HALL
. Perpendicular to Furnald is Journalism Hall (12), which is the home of the best journalism graduate school in the world. In fact, the prestigious Pulitzer Prizes are awarded each year by the faculty of Columbia's Graduate School of Journalism.

COLLEGE WALK
Continuillg north you will cross College Walk (13). Originally, the Walk was a public New York City street, but President Dwight Eisenhower (who was president of Columbia before becoming president of the United States) used his influence to have the street bricked over and made a private part of the University in commemoration of Columbia's 200th birthday in 1954. In fact, one legend has it that when Eisenhower was asked why he wanted to leave Columbia to become president of the United States, he responded that Columbia was too political.

DODGE HALL
Up the steps and westward will take you to Dodge Hall (14). The music department, the music library, the visual arts department, and the film department are all located in Dodge. Dodge has produced such noted artists as Broadway legends Rodgers and Hammerstein, film director Brian DePalma, actors James Cagney and Mario Van Peebles, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner, and pianist Emanuel Ax, just to name a few.

EARL HALL
North of Dodge, you find Earl Hall (15), Columbia's spiritual and religious center. About fifty six religious, political, and community service organizations find their home in Earl Hall. Here you can find the Jewish Student Union's office and the Muslim Student Association's office located right next door to each other (which illustrates Columbia's belief that if people can't get along in a microcosm, then they will never be able to get along in a macrocosm. ) Columbia has the highest percentage of students volunteering in community service of any university.

MATHEMATICS HALL
Next to Earl Hall sits Mathematics Hall (16), which is, of course, home to the math department and one of the finest and largest math libraries in the world. This hall originally housed the engineering school (then called the School of Mines) before the school expanded to include several other buildings on campus. Begin g with this hall, you are now entering the science and engineering area of Columbia's campus.

HAVEMEYER HALL
The strength of the science departments is world-renowned. There are more Nobel laureates associated with Columbia (as alumni or faculty) than with any other university. Havemeyer Hall (17) holds the chemistry department and has state-of-the-art laboratories in which all scientists and science students perform experiments.

DODGE PHYSICAL FITNESS CENTER
Before heading to the northern edge of the campus, take a look down the stairs to the east of Havemeyer. They lead you to the Dodge Physical Fitness Center (18). This facility, which was renovated in 1995 and 1996, now features three levels of state-of the-art aerobic and anaerobic exercise equipment, including exercise bicycles, treadmills, stairclimbers, and nautilus equipment. The aerobics room, track, locker rooms and saunas have all been renovated while the facility has retained its swimming pool, basketball arena, and squash and racquetball courts. In case you are wondering, the football stadium, baseball diamond, soccer field, boathouse, and fieldhouse are all located on 218th Street. Columbia fans usually take public transportation to cheer the teams, while varsity athletes take a van up to practice.

PUPIN HALL
The physics, astronomy, and applied physics departments are located in Pupin Hall (19). Pupin is a National Historic Landmark, as it was the original site of the Manhattan Project and the first atomic reactor to split an atom under controlled conditions. The laser and FM radio were also invented in Pupin.

SCHAPIRO CENTER FOR ENGINEERING AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH
Connected to Pupin is the Schapiro Center for Engineering and Physical Science Research (20), built in 1993. This is the new engineering research facility that has catapulted Columbia into position as the world's leading telecommunications center. Groundbreaking research is also being done at the Center in the fields of robotics and virtual reality.

SEELEY W. MUDD BUILDING
Rounding the final corner of the North Campus will bring you to the Seeley W. Mudd Building (21), home of the Gateway Laboratory and most of the engineering classes. All first-year SEAS students take a course in the Gateway Lab in which the concepts they have just learned in lectures are explored through graphical simulations and tutorials. These help students emulate the thought processes of engineers working on real projects. The lab is equipped with a Silicon Graphics Onyx supercomputer and forty Silicon Graphics workstations to which undergraduates have almost unlimited access.

SCHERMERHORN HALL
Heading south brings you to another important sector of campus, the social sciences quad. At the north end of the quad lies Schermerhorn Hall (22), the home of the zoology, botany, geology, art history, archeology, and anthropology departments. Schermerhorn was also the site of Thomas Hunt Morgan's Drosophila, (fruit fly) experiment, which won him the Nobel Prize and laid the foundation for modern genetics.

AVERY HALL
On the west side of the quad stands Avery Hall (23), in which are found the School of Architecture and the Avery Memorial Library, one of the most outstanding fine arts and architecture libraries in the world.

FAYERWEATHER HALL
On the east side of the Quad lies Fayerweather Hall (24), which is home to one of the most renowned history departments in the country. In fact, students often joke that it is impossible to turn on the nightly news without seeing a Columbia history professor.

SAINT PAUL'S CHAPEL
Exiting through the south end of the quad will bring you to St. Paul's Chapel (25), Columbia's multidenominational religious facility. Perhaps most striking are the stained glass windows, designed and built by the American artist John La Farge. His innovative technique -plating, or placing one piece of glass over another --- allows for greater detail, color, and depth of field. La Farge's manufacture of opalescent glass was copied by Louis Tiffany for his now famous vases and lamps. Every weekend, the basement of St. Paul's is the site of folk music, poetry reading, and art exhibits sponsored by the student-run organization known as "Postcrypt."

BUELL HALL
South of St. Paul's lies Buell Hall (26), which is the only building still remaining from the Bloomingdale Asylum for the Insane, the former owner of the property now occupied by Columbia. Currently, Buell houses the French cultural center, Maison Francaise, and the Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture.

PHILOSOPHY HALL
Across from Buell Hall you will find Philosophy Hall (27), the home of one of the best English departments in the country as well as the French department. In front of the hall is the statue of "Le Penseur," or "The Thinker," which is an original recast of Auguste Rodin's famous sculpture. It was a gift to the University from the artist himself.

CASA ITALIANA
If you have some time, head east over Amsterdam Avenue via the overpass, Revson Plaza, which provides a great view of Uptown and Midtown Manhattan. You will pass by Casa Italiana (28), which once housed the oldest Italian department in the country (it is now in Hamilton Hall) and holds the Italian Academy for Advanced Studies in America. It was built with money donated by noted dictator Benito Mussolini

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS BUILDING
East of Casa Italiana in the International Affairs Building (29) is the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA); the building houses numerous graduate and undergraduate departments, including the economics and political Science departments.

EAST CAMPUS RESIDENTIAL CENTER
East of SIPA stands the East Campus Residential Center (30), the tallest building on Columbia's campus. This twenty-story residence hall provides its residents with a spectacular view of the New York skyline. The building is also the location of Career Services, which assists students in finding jobs and internships as well as providing graduate and professional school counseling.

WIEN HALL
Wien Hall (31), located right next door, is one of Columbia's oldest residence halls. Wien boasts a modern food court, which features Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, a pasta and salad bar, frozen yogurt machine, and rotisserie chicken grill.

GREENE HALL
In front of Wien lies Greene Hall (32), which is the home of Columbia's School of Law.

KENT HALL
Traveling westward do the stairs you'll find yourself ill front of Kent Hall (33), home to the East Asian library and the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures. The East Asian library contains one of the largest and oldest collections of Asian literature outside of Japan.