Director's Statement

“Esta ciudad que yo creí mi pasado es mi porvenir, mi presente; los años que he vivido en Europa son ilusorios, yo estaba siempre (y estaré) en Buenos Aires.” - Jorge Luis Borges, Fervor de Buenos Aires
 

Buenos Aires is a city that hums with energy; it is a hub for politics and policy debates and a gravitational center of the Global South for cultural production. It is an autonomous capital, and it is the seat of national government, with Argentina’s 23 provinces represented in the Congress. The country’s politics happen in Buenos Aires and much of the region’s business happens here. And culturally, every day offers over 400 different plays at 288 theaters, 129 museums, and the world’s highest concentration of bookstores per capita per square mile.

In Buenos Aires, the dense yet also sleek urban environment speaks vividly to the cross­-cultural confluence and aesthetics that define the Americas today. In the countryside, Argentina’s over 1 million square miles of land opens onto tropical jungles in the Northeast, arctic glaciers in the South, and Patagonia’s mystifying desert expanses and mountains rippling through the West. In this rich diversity, the enduring presence of indigenous cultures has sustained a dialogued encounter with post­colonial legacies and the vibrant influx of a much later and diversified array of immigrations from all over the world.

Grassroots community action in Argentina is as prevalent a force for social change as are the internationally noted achievements in Human Rights redress. The scars left by the former dictatorship also inform today’s civic will to champion democracy.

In academics, Argentine university professors, in addition to doing research, may well also serve in a community or government role or have influence in industrial or cultural sectors. The 30+ professors who teach at NYU Buenos Aires reflect this engagement with both the public sphere as well as the academy’s specialized context.

NYU Buenos Aires is a multi­disciplinary program, ranging from Cultural Studies to Economics, from Epidemiology to Film and Photography. Yet, across these disciplines, a core concern with social justice drives the exploration and analysis. Social justice in free speech, in the recognition of diverse social identities, in the extraordinary expansiveness of Argentina’s free health­care and free education (including university), and in its restitution and protection of Human Rights.

NYU’s only program in Latin America is anchored here in Buenos Aires, Argentina: an informative, inspiring context for any future global citizen to have studied in.

Dr. Anna Kazumi Stahl

Director of NYU Buenos Aires

Anna Kazumi Stahl

Dr. Anna Kazumi Stahl - NYU Buenos Aires


The Academic Center

Students passing time in academic center lounge

Located in Recoleta neighborhood, the NYU Buenos Aires Academic Center is only a block from Avenida Santa Fe, a busy avenue lined by shops, restaurants, and banks. The subway system of Buenos Aires, Subte, is efficient and easy to use, with the closest station only a few blocks away.

The Academic Center is housed in an architecturally stunning, Tudor-style building that was home to the Angolan Embassy. Most classrooms and administrative offices are located here, along with a small book collection, a computer lab, a meditation space, a quiet room, a lounge/study space equipped with wireless Internet, and a dining area with a kitchenette.

Classes at NYU Buenos Aires are held in the Center and in an adjacent building, only 1 block from the Academic Center. Each of the classrooms features a computer and a projector. The computer lab contains Apple iMac computers, printers and a scanner, while the book collection offers you the chance to study silently and comfortably, surrounded by Argentina's most important historical and literary works.

Between classes, you can relax or study in the lounge, and read copies of local publications like La Nación, Clarín, and The Rolling Stone. If hungry, you can heat up delicious empanadas in the adjoining kitchenette; if you want to use the Internet to email friends and family, the computer lab is always available.

We also have a small meditation space, open for prayer, meditation and relaxing, and a quiet room with a telephone for international calls and a computer.

In the surrounding neighborhood, you will find shops for your every need, inexpensive cafes, and a number of remarkable bookstores like El Ateneo, a Buenos Aires landmark located in a restored 20th century theatre that's just a short bus ride from the Center.

Whether you go to study or just to relax, the sprawling green parks of nearby Palermo offer you the perfect opportunity to enjoy Buenos Aires' pleasant weather.